Puddin - The Adventures of the Demon Demigoddess
by march4fun
Summary: Join the lovable Puddin as she travels through time and fights evil on her quest toward total domination, the utter destruction of all who oppose her, and making her father proud. Based off of the Teamfourstar Xenoverse 2 LetsPlays. Rated M for language and just to be on the safe side.
1. Melancholy of the Demon God

**AN: Hello and welcome to The Adventures of Puddin! I am your host March4fun and I bring you a tale birthed from the crazed, beautiful minds of Team Four Star. I have taken an entire Let's Play series and attempted to turn it into a novel-length story.**

 **Pray for me. Pray for us all.**

 **Puddin and Dumplin belong to Lanipator, Kirran, and Grant. All other Dragon Ball characters belong to Akira Toriyama.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Melancholy of the Demon God**

Mr. Popo didn't feel like himself today.

If anyone really knew him, and nobody who had been alive for the last hundred millennia really did, they would realize what day it was. Any other year, he would spend the day in isolation, but this year he had the opportunity to try something different.

He stood there and watched his victims, or 'students' as Kami insisted. They were flying through an obstacle course of rings that breathed fire. Normally he would love to watch their floundering attempts at training, but now he couldn't even be distracted from what day it was. He had denied them breakfast this morning, due to 'lack of hustle' he had said, in an attempt to make himself feel better, but it didn't work. Even the sight of Yamcha catching on fire wasn't enough to lift his spirits, and that boy's pain always brought a smile to his face.

"My God!" Krillin cried out as he slammed into the Lookout's surface right in front of Popo, his back heavily scorched. Popo briefly considered kicking him off the edge of the tower again just for a laugh, but sighed instead.

 _No. Not today_.

"Alright, maggots! Everybody stop!"

All of his students stopped what they were doing and looked at him. The rings ceased belching fire. The only sound was the howl of the high-altitude wind.

"Um… yes, Mr. Popo sir?" Krillin said fearfully. Again, Popo felt the urge to hit him in an attempt to alleviate his mood, but he decided against it. There was no point. It wouldn't feel the same.

"That's all for today," he said with a sigh as he turned away and walked back toward the house. "You've got the rest of the day off. Watch porn, punch each other, go for a walk. I don't care what you do as long as you do it far away from me." He didn't stick around to see their reactions or hear their questions. Walking through the halls of Kami's Lookout, he felt an even heavier weight pull at the void where his heart had been.

Kami had stayed in his room for the day, so the hallways were empty. That just seemed so appropriate to Popo. Once again, it was just him, alone with his thoughts.

"She would have loved it here," he said to himself as he entered his rooms in the West Wing. He had a small kitchen off to one side of his room, right next to the rack of weapons and torture tools. Moving as if in a daze, he pulled the ingredients he needed from the cabinets and set about baking.

Within an hour and a half, he had a fresh chocolate cake in front of him, to which his began to apply a generous amount of vanilla icing. To make it perfect, he put strawberries all around the top of the cake. Reaching into the fridge, he pulled out a bottle of green soda, which he put in a tall glass along with some pink ice cubes. Right next to where the soda had been was a bottle of LSD he had been saving for a special occasion. He started to reach out for before his hand fell back against his side.

 _No. Not today._

Setting up a platter with the cake in the middle and the glass of soda off to the side, he then took a step back. He focused his energy, creating a black portal in front of him, and reached into the Fuck Box. Ignoring any screams of torment from inside, He rooted around in there for a moment, grabbing at various objects before he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a carefully wrapped parcel and added it to the platter. He took the platter in hand and walked to the back of his chambers, where a dark red curtain obscured a corner.

By his will, the curtain moved aside. A prayer mat that he had stolen from some poor fool almost two thousand years ago was spread on the floor in front of a framed picture. The picture depicted two individuals, one incredibly short while the other was a fair bit taller. They both had grey skin, with the taller one being a few shades lighter and possessing a distinctly feminine shape, and both were dressed in the most blindingly neon outfits one was ever likely to see. They both had huge smiles on their faces as they held each other close, laughing at a joke that had long since been lost to time.

He sighed again before placing the platter down in front of the picture and kneeling on the mat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a single pink candle which he put right in the center of the cake. A single thought caused the candle to light. He took one last look at the picture before closing his eyes. He hesitated as his throat clenched up, but he swallowed and pushed forward.

"Happy birthday to you," he began to sing in a trembling voice, "happy birthday to you."

Tears dripped down his face from his closed eyes before falling the ground. They sizzled as they burned dotted scars into the stone, and there was evidence of even older acid burns.

"Happy birthday… dear Puddin," he sang around the lump in his throat. "Happy birthday… to you."

For hours after that, Mr. Popo simply knelt on that mat and cried. He didn't even notice when the candle burned itself down to the wick. There were no sounds except for the occasional sob from the Demon God. On this day of all days, all of the power he had gained and atrocities he liked to commit felt like they meant absolutely nothing.

On this day of all days, he would give it all up to be with his daughter one more time.

Mr. Popo had not always been the black skinned lump of pure terror and sex appeal he was now. Once upon a time, he had been a mere Demon. He was there when the Universe began, and he knew he would be there when it finally ended, if he didn't decide to bring that about himself. That is, if fate hadn't intervened...


	2. A God's Beginnings

**Chapter 2: A God's Beginnings**

The Great Hall was filled with chattering nobles and frantic servants. The band was playing their hearts out, but no one paid attention to them. The nobles boasted back and forth in between making shouted demands at the servants. Overseeing all of this, the master of the castle smiled and swirled his wine. The sound of a door slamming open caught his attention and he turned.

A man in a warrior's uniform scuttled up to the head of the table and leaned to speak into his master's ear.

"Sire, I believe you should move to the escape tunnels as soon as possible!" he said urgently. His master scoffed and waved away his concerns.

"You and your guards have a duty to fight in my name. You can handle anything the world can throw at you. Besides, if word spread that I fled my own castle like yelping dog, my position would be ruined. Now you get out there, get your men, and-"

"Sire, you have no idea what's going to happen!" The warrior seemed quite frantic now. "You've gained the attention of… of _him_. Of _Dumplin_."

The goblet fell through the lord's numb fingers, shattering against the stone floor. The room became deathly silent. Nobody else seemed to even breathe.

"Wh-what did you say?" he asked. "Did you say Dumplin?! Where is he?!"

"He's coming soon, sire."

Suddenly, the entire room shook from a heavy impact. Streams of dust fell from the ceiling as everyone's hearts seemed to skip a beat.

"C-correction," the warrior whimpered. "He's here."

There was a drawn-out moment of silence before the doors were suddenly blasted into pieces. The guests in the dining hall screamed, some in fear while others in pain as they were skewered by shards of wood. Out of the huge cloud of dust and debris, those who dared to look at the entrance beheld the strangest creature they had ever seen.

He was a very short and rotund individual. His skin had a goopy quality to it and was dark grey in color. A single tendril extended from his head and hung down in front of his face, looking like a pompadour. His attire almost seared the eyes, with bright pinks, yellows, and greens all fighting for dominance. His mouth was drawn in a malicious smile and his beady eyes seemed like windows to the Void itself.

"Ding dong!" he said. "Dumplin here!" Looking at the master of the house, his smile grew even wider. "Glad I finally caught up to you… Raspberry."

* * *

 _Millennia in the future…_

Darkness fell across Tokitoki City before a sudden flash ushered a massive serpentine dragon into existence. He floated over the city, giving an ethereal glow over those below him.

"I am the Eternal Dragon," he said in a loud, rumbling voice. "State your wish, and I shall-" He suddenly stopped and took note of who had summoned him. "No… No way! I thought I was done with all of you idiots!"

Trunks took a step back in surprise. In his experiences, dragons weren't supposed to act like this. However, he really needed help, so he swallowed his apprehension and pushed forward.

"Mighty Shenron!" he called up the dragon. "The Time Patrol is in desperate need of warriors to combat a great threat. My wish if for you to give me a strong ally. Someone with the kind of power to help me protect time itself!" There was a moment of silence before the dragon responded.

"Really?" he asked. "You've got me, an all-powerful dragon, right here. You can wish for the threat you're facing to never exist. You could wish to make yourself all powerful. Can't give you immortality anymore, that's not an option, but I have tons of other things I could do for you instead of just dragging someone here to fight for you with neither their knowledge nor consent. I mean, really? That's kind of a dick move, man."

"The fate of all existence is at stake!" shouted Trunks. "We need as many fighters as we can get."

The dragon sighed and ground his fangs before an evil thought occurred to him.

"You know what, fine," he hissed. "You want a powerful warrior. I'll bring you the most powerful warrior that ever existed." Trunks sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Shenron," he said. The dragon just gave a dark chuckle.

"You say that now… Anyway, your wish is granted!"

* * *

"So tell me, Raspberry," Dumplin said in a conversational tone of voice, "if you could sum up how you feel in one word, what would it be?"

Raspberry merely whimpered in pain. That was all he really could do now that every single bone in his body was broken in at least one place.

"That's what I thought," Dumplin said. "Alright, I've had my fun, so I think I can go ahead and kill you now." He raised his gloved hand, making a small ball of energy appear in his grasp. Before he could wipe Raspberry from existence, he felt a pull on his being.

" _Someone summons you from a land far away_ ," a strange voice said. " _Also, just so you know. This wasn't my idea. There's no reason to be mad at me in a few millennia_."

"Wait, what?" Dumplin managed to say before he suddenly vanished.

He reappeared in the middle of some sort of pavilion. A circular moat wound around a central gazebo where seven glowing balls with stars in them were arranged on some sort of pedestal. Trees lined the edges and there was also a paved walking path.

Oh, and there was a fucking huge green dragon looking right down at him.

"Mother fucker, what is that?!" Dumplin shouted in surprise.

"Like I said," grumbled the dragon, "not my idea. Please remember that, master." Suddenly, the dragon vanished with a huge burst of light. The seven glowing balls rose into the air before flying off in different directions. Dumplin just stared at the strange sky as light returned to the world.

"Master? What could he…"

"…What. The fuck," someone else said.

Dumplin turned to face the new voice. There was a young man with lavender hair, a long coat, and a sword standing a few yards away from him. He was looking at Dumplin with an expression of complete and utter shock.

"Who… what… how…" the young man sputtered. "What are you?" Dumplin narrowed his eyes.

"The name's Dumplin, maggot. Now why am I here?"

"My god, this can't be happening," the man muttered to himself before taking a calming breath. "My name is Trunks and I'm a member of the Time Patrol. We protect the time stream from any outside interference. We have a crisis on our hands, so I wished for Shenron to summon a warrior capable of helping us in our time of need. So… I guess that's you." In a smooth motion, he drew his sword and leveled it at Dumplin's head.

"Oh, that is just precious," Dumplin said with a smirk. Trunks looked a little annoyed.

"I have to test your power to see if you're the warrior we require." He assumed a ready stance before lunging forward. "YAAAHHH!" he shouted as he brought his sword down on Dumplin, only for the blade to be suddenly stopped by Dumplin's open palm. The grey being just smiled at him. "Huh," said Trunks. "So _this_ is what that feels like…"

Dumplin slammed his other palm into Trunks' chest, sending him flying back into the trees. And then through the trees. And a wall. And a building. And another building.

Dumplin's smile grew even bigger.

"Yeah!" he shouted. "Get DUMPED!"

* * *

That was Dumplin's introduction to being a Time Patroller. Realizing it might be fun to learn more about history's most powerful fighters and eventually steal their powers, he decided to stick around for a while, even if that meant putting up with Trunks. He also found out how pitifully weak the various threats facing the Time Patrol actually were, and he took to suppressing his power enough that he could at least get an exciting fight out of it. This always confused Trunks and the other members of the Time Patrol when he would take down some powerful foe, since according to both senses and Scouters, Dumplin had no energy reading at all. They didn't know that he fueled his strength with mana, an archaic power from before the birth of the Kais, instead of traditional ki.

Dumplin fell into a routine with his new life as a Time Patroller. Fortunately, just when things were beginning to get a little stale, everything changed. That was when he met… _her_.

* * *

 _TITS!_

That was Dumplin's first thought when he laid his eyes on Towa. The pale blue skinned elf woman was dressed in a tantalizingly tight red bodysuit with black accents, with a section cut out to give a teasing glance at the undersides of her ample breasts. Dumplin stared at her, absolutely stunned by her beauty and pure sexiness.

It was a little shameful that he was so distracted that Mira got a free hit in, sucker punching him hard in the face and sending him flying across the little Namekian island their confrontation was taking place on. When he finally got his head to stop spinning, he pulled himself out of the crater he had made. Towa was chuckling at his misfortune while Mira just glared at him.

"That was a cheap shot," Dumplin said, rubbing his cheek.

"You left yourself open," responded Mira. "You deserved it, fool."

"Come over here and say that again!" roared Dumplin, flying straight at Mira. They exchanged blows and energy blasts aplenty before Towa stopped them, citing that Mira shouldn't waste time with such a weak opponent. Dumplin felt a little pissed, but he couldn't stay mad at a face like that.

"I hope you don't plan on getting in our way again, little… man?" said Towa. "Things would be very uncomfortable for you if you did."

"Actually," Dumplin said, "my plans were more along the lines of you and me sharing a candlelit dinner. Maybe some dancing." He shrugged. "I mean, if you'd be up for it."

Towa stared at him for a few long moments. She blinked. She blinked again. Suddenly, she doubled over with helpless laughter. She leaned heavily on her staff, looking like she could fall right over at any second. Mira stared at her like he had never seen her do anything like this before. Eventually, Towa managed to get herself back under control, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Hah… hah… I think I like you, little man. What's your name?"

"The name's Dumplin!" he said, giving her a thumbs up. She laughed again.

"Well Dumplin, I find you interesting. Keep this up and you might just make my favorites list." She placed her hand on Mira's arm before she winked at the short Time Patroller. "See you around," she said before she and Mira suddenly vanished. Dumplin just stared at the place where that beautiful creature had been standing.

 _"Dumplin?"_ asked Trunks through Dumplin's Scouter. _"Dumplin can you hear me? What happened?_ "

"I… Trunks, I think I'm in love."

 _"…What. The fuck_."

* * *

Thus began Dumplin's unconventional courtship of Towa. He never gave up whenever he saw her. A compliment there, a flirt here, and he always managed to make her smile. Eventually, it wasn't even that look of smug superiority, but a genuine smile. She would leave him with some parting words and a wink, forever spurring Dumplin forward in his attempts to woo her. Of course, things got a little rocky when Dumplin blasted Mira into atoms, but Dumplin was sure he could work past that. His plans had to be pushed to the side, however, when some idiot named Demigra started ruining everything. The jerk even had the nerve to call himself a Demon God!

After Dumplin interrupted his plans left and right, they finally came to their final showdown. The red-haired little shit managed to break free from the Crack of Time, since Chronoa, the Supreme Kai of Time, couldn't be bothered to just kill him in the first place and be completely certain he would never come back, and Dumplin had to jump right into the Crack to stop him. It was a pitched battle that came to an inevitable conclusion, with Dumplin defeating Demigra once and for all by absorbing him and taking every last drop of demon power for himself.

After assuring Chronoa and Trunks that he had no intention to destroy the universe (not yet at least, he told himself) and soundly kicking Goku's ass in a sparring match, Dumplin went about his regular duties as a Time Patroller. He actually found himself enjoying the work again. He could meet some of the most powerful maggots the universe could make, he could learn their moves, and he could plan for dozens of ways to eliminate them and take their powers for himself.

One issue, though, kept him occupied. When he finally managed to track her down, it was one of the most satisfying days of his life.

* * *

Towa stood on the edge of a cliff, staring down at a raging battle between primitive aliens. Such pathetic mortals. If what she understood was correct, these two forces were fighting over something as pathetic as a single island. That was it!

Towa rolled her eyes as one side suddenly attacked with automatic projectile weapons. This species was still in it's Bronze Age, but apparently someone was doing some time travel to change a single battle. Just like that, this battle had become completely one sided and utterly boring.

"Such pathetic creatures," she said with a shake of her head. "Don't you agree?"

The Majin standing behind her shrugged as he waddled forward to be next to her.

"I don't know. All mortal races look pretty pathetic to me," he said. "The only reason I stick around is because I'll get some good fights in."

They stood there in silence for a few long moments, just watching the battle as it continued. Eventually, Towa sighed.

"What happens now?" she asked the goop-like warrior who had become her nemesis and stalwart admirer. He shrugged.

"My job is to break up this fight and make sure that the historical winners make it through. I was intending to do that."

"What about me?"

"I never saw you. You can be gone by the time I come back."

He took to the air and began to fly away. Towa nodded in understanding and turned to go.

"But…" he said, stopping her in her tracks. Towa turned back and looked at Dumplin, who was rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "If you want to hang out until I finish, we could…" He stopped and took a breath. "I was thinking that we could go out to dinner because you seem really lonely and I still like you a lot even though you tried to blow up time but I'm okay with that since I feel the need to blow things up too and I know this really great restaurant in Age 748 that I really like that serves oysters by the bucketful and I thought you might be in the mood for some seafood so I thought if you wanted to-"

"Alright."

Dumplin's high-speed rambling fell silent as he looked at her in surprise. Towa just gave him a small, genuine smile.

"I'd be happy to go to dinner with you after your mission. I'll wait here until you're done. Just make sure you don't take too long." She crossed her arms, simultaneously lifting up her breasts. Steam started trickling out of Dumplin's body holes. "It would be rude if you kept me waiting too long."

Dumplin blinked for a few moments before swallowing.

"I'll be right back," he said. With that, he spun around in the air and flew off toward the battle.

Towa did not miss the triumphant whoop he gave when he had made some distance.


	3. Congratulations! Its a Blob

**Chapter 3 – Congratulations! It's a… Blob**

After many dates with Dumplin and a very persuasive plea, Towa finally agreed to return to Toki Toki City with Dumplin, accepting his offer of a stable home and source of company. While the Time Patrol was initially against this arrangement (Towa's arrival was particularly tense and hostile), they grudgingly accepted her presence. Towa, in turn, gave them very little reason to be mad at her. When she wasn't with Dumplin, she kept to herself, frequently locking herself in her lab. While Chronoa was not comfortable with this, she eventually backed off when Towa's creations started saving Time Patrollers from horrible situations. Chronoa even officiated their wedding, which was attended by a hopeless confused crowd.

Things were quiet and peaceful for a time, but then Towa performed an experiment one night and everything changed.

* * *

"Who writes this crap?" Dumplin muttered incredulously, staring down at the book in his lap. He was sitting in his favorite arm chair in their cottage, resting after a hard mission through time. Towa smiled as she stealthily made her way up behind him. "Is that even physically possible?" he asked himself. Towa looked down at the passage he was reading and her smile widened. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"I'm not sure, sweet one," she purred, "but I'd be willing to find out." Dumplin chuckled and leaned into her embrace.

"How was your day, babe?" he asked.

"Quite productive," she answered. "I was actually about to run a new experiment. Can you lend me a hand?"

"Of course," Dumplin said with enthusiasm as he set the book aside. Towa smiled.

"Thank you, dear," she said, taking hold of his left hand.

With a blur of motion, she took out the cleaver she had been hiding behind her back, raised it high, and removed Dumplin's hand and forearm with a single chop. Dumplin stared at the stump where his limb had been not a second earlier in confusion before he started screaming.

"Kai, Kami and me, that fucking hurt!" Dumplin snarled in pain. "The fuck did you do that for?!"

"I said I needed your hand," she said dismissively as she returned the cleaver to the kitchen. When she came back out, Dumplin was still glaring at her. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be a baby. You can regrow your arm with no problem."

"It still hurts…" he grumbled as his limb started to reform. She shook her head in exasperation.

"Anyway, follow me. You should at least see what I'm working on."

She descended down into the basement, with Dumplin's waddling steps behind her. The basement contained her research lab, where she carried out her experiments and made her plethora of inventions. Currently, all of the furniture had been pushed against the wall to make room for the blood-red rune circle in the middle of the room. Thousands of characters were arranged in an amalgamation of hundreds of different designs she had researched. After weeks of work, this might be just what she was looking for.

"Well," said Dumplin as he saw the circle, "that certainly looks delightful." He shot her a questioning look. "You summoning your old sorority here for dinner? I definitely wouldn't say no to a party of demon coeds, if you know what I mean?"

Towa merely smiled and rolled her eyes again, accustomed to her husband's sense of humor.

"No, dear," she said. "I'm trying to make a homunculus."

"A homo-what-now?" Dumplin asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"A _homunculus_ ," she enunciated. "It's a synthetic being created by magic. Using our essences, I will bind it to our will and create a link that we can use to send mental commands in the heat of battle, and since it is bound to both of us, we are the only ones who could…" Towa trailed off as she saw her husband's glassy-eyed look of incomprehension. She sighed. "Think of it as a remote controlled car that can punch people and we have the controller."

"Sweet!" Dumplin said with a smile. "How's it gonna work?"

"Watch and learn, dear," she said as she placed her husband's severed hand in the center of the circle. Pulling out a small knife, she cut across her palm and let her blood drip in the center as well. With that task done, she walked back to stand by Dumplin and extended her hands toward the circle. "Let us begin," she said.

The room seemed to darken as red electricity crackled over the circle. The runes began to shine with a blood red light. The severed hand and Towa's spilled blood lifted into the air and began spinning. More lightning crackled from the circle, but Towa began exerting her control over it, keeping it contained within the boundaries of the circle.

Time began to pass and the energy continued to build. To Towa's surprise, the magic was starting to push against her control.

"Hmm," she said absently, reasserting her will over the circle. Dumplin looked up at her.

"Was that a good 'hmm' or a bad 'hmm'?" he asked.

"Not sure," she answered honestly. "The reaction is taking longer than I anticipated, as well as giving off a stronger push. It's like it's fighting against me or something." The demonic energy in circle was growing larger by the second, and was starting to jump and spark at an alarming rate. At first Towa had felt like she was holding a sheet of fabric in place, but now it felt like she was trying to keep a raging bull in a headlock. Sweat began to drip down her brow as she struggled to hold on.

With a loud CRACK, a bolt of red lightning broke free from her hold and connected with a spiked mace she had been trying to enchant. With a quick flash, the weapon was gone. Towa grit her teeth and tightened her hold, but it was already trying to wiggle free.

"Is something wrong?" Dumplin asked. She shot him an annoyed glance form the corner of her eye.

"Yes, dear, it's quite obvious something is going wrong," she drawled sarcastically. "It's leaping out and trying to absorb matter." Towa ducked as another bolt shot out from the maelstrom of energy, causing a rack of test tubes to blink out of existence. "Blood and damnation! There go my new aphrodisiacs!"

"Your what?" Dumplin asked, suddenly interested. Towa ground her teeth.

"Never mind. This thing is going to keep absorbing matter if we don't feed it something. If you can find some organic matter, I can maybe get the vortex to stop before it sucks up the whole city."

"What kind of organic matter?"

" _Anything,_ you fool!" she screamed. "Just hurry up! This thing won't wait for you!"

"Aye aye!" Dumplin said with a salute before flying up the stairs. Towa just scrunched her face and tried to focus on her breathing. Seconds dragged on as this vortex of demonic power fought against her hold. Her body started trembling from the strain. Anyone else would have passed out by now.

"I got it!" shouted Dumplin as he sped into the laboratory. Towa let out a rattling sigh of relief.

"Throw it! I'll do the spell!"

"Here it comes!" she heard him say.

Towa looked up and raised one of her hands in preparation. A flying object when flying from behind her. She had cast the spell that would dramatically increase its mass before she saw what it was.

It was Waffles, their next door neighbor's cat.

Dumplin was going to get an earful from Cupcake, that's for sure.

Waffles had only a moment to yowl in surprise before he flew inside the boundary of the circle. The tendrils of lightning lunged at him like a waiting panther. Towa watched the cat's body being broken down by the lightning while at the same time growing larger. Inevitably, the deconstructing energy won out. The last of Waffles' skeleton winked out of existence. The swirling vortex ceased fighting against Towa, but started glowing brighter and brighter.

"Is that bad?" Dumplin asked.

"I have no idea," she said honestly. This reaction conflicted with all of the calculations she had made.

Further words were halted when the vortex suddenly exploded, throwing out a shockwave that sent furniture and science equipment tumbling to the ground and knocking down Towa and Dumplin. The light shined at a blinding intensity, a sound like shearing metal rising to a fever pitch until…

It was gone. In one second, the light vanished and everything became silent. Towa blinked the spots from her eyes, too dizzy to climb to her feet.

"Towa?" she dimly heard Dumplin ask over the ringing in her ears. "Babe? You okay."

"I'm fine," she said as her vision started to clear. She saw the multicolored blob in front of her and reached out. He took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. "It seems I may have miscalculated."

"Maybe a little," Dumplin said with a smirk. He turned his head to look at the empty rune circle. "So… no homo-nucleus?"

" _Homunculus_ ," she repeated. "I suppose not. I'll need to check over my notes again to.."

The words died out as she looked at the center of the circle. There was a small blob of grey substance sitting there that had not been there before. Dumplin noticed it at the same time and started inching toward it. She edged forward to stand by his side.

"What is that?" Dumplin asked.

"Must be some sort of byproduct of the reaction," Towa answered. "Probably best to get rid of it. I'll get a container." She walked over to one of her cabinets and grabbed a metal bucket. She turned back to the center of the room just as Dumplin was reaching out to touch the blob. "Dumplin, I really think you shouldn't-"

Dumplin poked the blob.

The blob jumped in surprise and scuttled away.

Towa blinked rapidly, certain that she must have seen it wrong. But no… the blob was moving.

And now it was looking at them.

The blob was roughly spherical in shape. On the bottom it had four stubby little legs that were less than two inches long. Wide electric blue eyes blinked at them in confusion. It looked back and forth between them before tilting its head in curiosity.

"Nyaa?" it meowed from its little mouth.

"It…" Towa said.

"It's so cute!" Dumplin practically squealed. He reached for it, making it yelp in fright before scrambling under a shelf.

"I don't think it's going to come out, dear," Towa said, putting the bucket down. "Let me grab my notebooks and I can decontaminate the laboratory. That will get rid of it."

"No!" Dumplin said. She stared at him in confusion. "Just… just wait." He dropped to his knees in front of the shelf. She took a knee as well to get a better look. The byproduct was pressing itself against the wall, shivering with fright and breathing hard. "Hey there," Dumplin said in a soothing tone of voice. "It's alright, little one. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

He slowly reached forward, offering his open palm to the creature. It tried to back away again, so he stopped. He just held his arm like that for a few long moments. Slowly, the creature began to shuffle closer, still looking cautious. Dumplin just stayed as he was, displaying a level of patience that Towa had never seen in him before.

Finally, the creature was close enough to sniff Dumplin's hand. It was close enough to grab, but for some reason Dumplin was still waiting. It gave a few more sniffs before gently nuzzling against his palm. Towa saw Dumplin smile as he stroked the creature's head. It closed its eyes in pleasure and started purring. As gently as if he were carrying a newborn, Dumplin carefully pulled the creature out from under the shelf, all the time stroking its head.

"Let's see if we can find you some food," he said as he carried the creature up the stairs and out of the laboratory, leaving Towa to watch in bewilderment.

* * *

"Let's see," Dumplin said as he dug into the couple's fridge, "we have strawberries, bananas, cookies, burritos, purple stuff, soda, and some candy. Let's try the berries." He took some of the red fruit in hand and placing it down in front of the creature, who was standing on the kitchen counter. It sniffed the berries, seemed to find them to it's liking, and opened its mouth wide, revealing an array of tiny, needle sharp teeth. With a single bite, it gobbled up the entire handful.

"Nyaa~" it said happily when it finished chewing. Dumplin smiled and stroked its head. The creature purred in contentment and nuzzled against him.

"Dear, please don't feed the failed experiment," Towa said, looking up from the four journals she had arranged on the table. She was looking back and forth between them, scribbling out complex equations on a piece of scratch paper.

"The little one is hungry," Dumplin said, reaching back into the fridge. This time, he came out holding a burrito wrapped in aluminum foil. Before he could unfold it, however, the creature leapt forward and scarfed it right out of his hand. It chewed for a few moments before spitting out a wadded ball of aluminum foil and then swallowing the meal.

"Nyaa~" it said happily. Dumplin laughed.

"She seems pretty smart."

Towa's pencil froze in mid-stroke.

"She?"

"Yeah. She's a girl. I can tell."

"It's an accidental byproduct, Dumplin. There is no point getting attached to it." She shook her head in exasperation before going back to her calculations. After a few moments, she froze again, staring down at her paper. With a loud groan, her face dropped to slam down on the table surface.

"You okay?" Dumplin asked, used to his wife's theatrics.

"I forgot to carry the two," she said into the table. "I was trying to make artificial life. Instead, I ended up making _actual_ life." She glanced up at him. "It was made from both of us. If you think about it, that means that it-"

"That _she_ ," corrected Dumplin.

"Fine, that _she_ is actually our child."

A moment passed in silence as this information seeped into them. Dumplin started to smile.

"I always wanted to be a dad, now that I think of it. So, kid," he said as he turned, "want to stay with us?"

The creature wasn't there anymore. Before they could start searching, they heard a small adorable burp. The creature was lounging in a spotlessly clean bowl that had just seconds ago held a chocolate pudding that was meant for the Time Patrol potluck tomorrow. Dumplin smiled at the adorable display, not caring that he would have to make another one.

"I guess we know your favorite food now," he said. The creature just gave a sleepy meow as Dumplin took her into his arms. "You're gonna need a name," he said quietly. He thought for a few moments before looking at the clean bowl. He smiled. "How about Puddin?" he asked the creature.

"Nyaa~" the small creature said quietly before falling asleep in his arms.


	4. The First Step

**AN: Hello and welcome! Glad you decided to come by. We'll be introducing a few more characters today.**

 **But first... a shameless plug!**

 **Another story of mine that I'm working on: RWBYS - Blood is Thicker. If any of you guys are a fan of RWBY, maybe you could give it a look-see.**

 **With that, we shall begin. Stand by for cuteness!**

* * *

Chapter 4 – The First Step

It took a great deal of finesse to explain to Chronoa how Puddin had come into existence overnight, but Dumplin somehow managed to do it in a way that _wouldn't_ make the childish god want to throw energy blasts at him or worse, make dinner for him.

Maybe it was also helped by the sheer amount of property damage that the Kais made the very next day. That probably helped divert some of the attention.

With an unusually large increase in the amount of time rifts across history, the Time Patrol had begun to hire more and more new recruits. The new members were coming in so fast that that Elder Kai was called in to help with the training of the recruits. This spawned many arguments between the two Kais about how the Time Patrol should be run, some of these arguments almost coming to blows thanks to Chronoa's immaturity and Elder Kai's penchant for stupidity.

Seeing them go at each other at the drop of a hat got many of the new recruits talking. First it was about why the argument was happening in the first place, then about who would win said argument, then about who would win an actual fight, then about how strong either of them really were, and then finally about why people believed these two layabout deities were so strong in the first place. They only had others' say so that these two could even actually do anything.

Chronoa decided to put a stop to such dangerous thinking by arranging for a grand demonstration of both hers and Elder Kai's divine powers. After gathering the entire Time Patrol together, Chronoa made a huge display of bringing the Shenron statue in the meditation garden to life. Unfortunately, she put a little too much effort into it and the now-immense statue ran amok, smashing Toki Toki City to pieces around it. The child-like Kai spent the entire ordeal locked in the Time Nest, projecting a force field to keep it all in one piece as the dragon raged outside. Dumplin and Towa watched the disaster in fascinated silence as Puddin sat upon her father's head, giggling nonstop at the explosions all around her.

When the dust settled, Toki Toki City was in shambles. The dragon had flown off and had taken up a position obscuring the _entire_ northern horizon. After giving a very embarrassed apology to a _very_ ticked off Time Patrol, Chronoa and Elder Kai began organizing the effort of remaking the Time Patrol headquarters. Plans were made and the ruins of Toki Toki City were used as the foundation for a brand new city. Dumplin and Towa even helped steal hunks of land from Earth, Namek, and a bunch of other planets across the ages to fit onto the new city like building blocks.

Soon, the new Conton City was complete.

All throughout the building process, Puddin would ride around on her father's head while he worked, giving her a first-hand view of the world around her. Dumplin would proudly introduce her as his daughter to any Time Patroller who would listen. Puddin was soaking up experience and knowledge like a sponge. By the end of the first day she was speaking a handful of words. By the second she was managing simple sentences. By the fourth she was actually holding conversations with other people and was starting to puzzle out written words. Dumplin was as proud as he could possibly be, but Towa was still keeping her distance for some reason, spending most of her days in her lab. This led to lots of times when Dumplin and Puddin would spend the evening together after a long day of work, either reading books, watching TV, or just snuggling on the couch.

One morning, Puddin surprised her parents by waking them up after completely changing her form. When everyone had gone to bed the previous night, she had been the little blob with legs. When they woke up, she had grown immensely and had changed her body to the proportions of a five-year-old girl. She even grew some head tentacles to give herself bangs and a ponytail. It took a bit of practice to shift from using four legs to just two, but within minutes she was walking like a champ.

She even went with her father to the morning muster of the Time Patrol.

* * *

Puddin looked all around the courtyard in front of the Time Nest with wide eyes, trying to take in everything around her. Dozens of Time Patrollers stood at attention as Trunks, her daddy's partner, was giving the announcements for the morning. There were so many Patrollers here, from every size, shape, sex, and species. Some were so tall that they seemed to stretch up forever while some were even shorter than her daddy. The demon in question just smiled at his excited daughter, but kept a firm grip on her hand to make sure she didn't go running off to who knows where. Puddin's other hand was clenching and unclenching around the fabric of her lime green sundress.

"Alright, you all have your orders," Trunks said, his posture straight with his hands clasped behind his back. "You're all dismissed."

" _Sir!_ " the assembled Patrollers said at once before going off to their duties. Trunks let out a sigh before approaching the two.

"Morning, Dumplin," he said before turning to Puddin with a look of confusion. "Who's this?"

"Aww," she pouted. "Don't you remember me, Trunky?" Her eyes grew impossibly large as she looked sorrowfully up at him. Trunks' jaw dropped.

"Puddin?! How… What… _How?_ "

"I decided I wanted to be bigger. Nyaa~" she said with a proud smile.

It must have been a weird day because Trunks decided to accept that answer.

"Is there any chance of… of Towa being around today?" Trunks asked hesitantly. Dumplin shook his head.

"The missus is working on her next big thing. She'll only come out when she's hungry. Or horny. Or both." He shrugged. Again, Trunks' jaw dropped as he looked back and forth between Dumplin and his daughter. The girl just looked at her father in confusion.

"I didn't know Mommy had horns," she said, cocking her head to the side. Dumplin smiled and patted her head.

"Only when she's really mad, sweetheart."

"Oh, I get it," she said with a smile.

"Oh my gods…" Trunks groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. " _Anyway_ ," he emphasized, eager to move the conversation along, "I need to talk to you. Um… in private, please."

"Oh, sure," Dumplin said. He craned his neck and looked around the courtyard. A few Time Patrollers were seeing to various tasks close by while some actually had time to loiter here. He looked at each of them in turn, giving consideration to who could keep an eye on Puddin for a few minutes. There were some he wouldn't trust to take care of a ham sandwich, some he wouldn't even think to leave Puddin with, and some he would only leave Puddin alone with so he could put the aftermath on YouTube. Finally, he spotted a Time Patroller across the courtyard who he felt was halfway capable of looking after her for a few minutes.

"Hey, Paata!" Dumplin shouted across the courtyard, his free hand cupped around his mouth. "Get you and your butt over here!"

The Patroller in question was a black-haired Saiyan who looked in his late twenties and dressed in a blue gi over a yellow muscle shirt. He was currently going through a sword kata before he froze and turned to face Dumplin. His golden eyes shined with excitement as he sheathed his katana and sped forward to them. He snapped to attention and bowed to Dumplin.

"You called, sir?" he asked excitedly. Dumplin nodded before indicating Puddin.

"I got to talk with Trunks for a bit. Can you keep an eye on Puddin while I'm gone?"

"Puddin?" Paata said, looking at the girl in amazement before smiling. "Wow. You really grew."

"Uh huh," she said proudly.

"Puddin, this is Paata," Dumplin told her. "He's a good Patroller Cadet and a pretty decent guy. He's gonna look out for you while I'm gone. Alright?"

"You got it, daddy," she said with a smile. Dumplin smiled back.

"Now be good for Paata," he said as he kissed her left cheek, "and bad for me," as he kissed her other cheek. "Be back soon." With that, he waved goodbye before both he and Trunks took to the air and flew toward the Time Nest.

For a moment, Puddin and Paata just stood there staring at each other. A random wind blew a tumbleweed past.

" _So_ ," they both said at the same time. They stopped and continued to stare at each other a moment before starting to laugh.

"You first," Paata urged.

"What were you doing when my daddy called you?" she asked. Paata smiled and patted his sword hilt.

"I was practicing a sword style I'm trying to make. I'm calling it _Dragon Claw_ right now, but I might change the name later."

"You're actually _making_ a style?" Puddin said in awe. "That is so cool! I can't wait till I start learning how to fight!"

"You want to be a Patroller?"

"You bet!" she squeed. "Hearing Daddy tell me about his stories, about how he fights the bad guys and he's all 'Bam! Boom! Swish! Pow! Hiyah!' Nyaa~ it's so cool! I really wanna do that!"

Paata laughed as she showed him her 'kung fu moves', which basically equated to her swinging her arms around and saying "Hwatcha!" a lot.

"You've definitely got the heart for it, Puddin," he said. An idea struck him and he smiled conspiratorially. "Say, Puddin," he began, "what would you say to doing a little bit of training while we wait for your dad?" With a blur of motion, she was suddenly grabbing onto his gi with both hands and looking up at him with an eager expression. Paata could swear he saw stars in her eyes.

"Nyaaaa…" she said in barely over a whisper. The sheer adorableness made Paata laugh.

"Alright then," he said. "Let's do some training."

"Yes!" she cried, hopping up and down like a jackrabbit on caffeine. "What are we doing first? Orin Combo? Kamehameha? The Fifty-Five Fists of Furious Fury?"

Paata put his hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place.

"Let's start with performing a correct punch," he said.

"That works too."

After spending a few minutes getting Puddin into a proper boxing stance, Paata started coaching step by step in how to a proper punch. Puddin was a little surprised by how much work went into just doing the simplest of strikes, but she was nevertheless making progress. Her initial attempts didn't have much force behind them, but she and Paata kept going through the motions over and over again. Soon, she had the entire movement down.

When she finally pulled off a punch with all of her strength behind it, the force was incredible. The pressure wave alone was enough to knock Paata back a step.

"…Wow," he said when he got his balance back. "That's one heck of an arm you got there. We should definitely show your dad when he gets back."

"Nyaa~" Puddin said proudly, as her fist flew toward Paata. He started to block before he realized she was just holding her fist out to give him a fist bump, which he gladly returned. They laughed for a few moments before Puddin went quiet and started fiddling with her dress. "Um…" she started before going quiet.

"What's wrong, Puddin?" he asked.

"I… I was just wondering… well…" she flushed in embarrassment. "Would you like to be my friend, Paata?" The man smiled and held his hand out to her.

"I'd be happy to," he said with a smile. She returned it and shook his hand.

"Great," she said. "We can do sleepovers, braid each other's hair, talk about boys, run around outside, play dress up, and watch cartoons all day! Nyaa~!"

"Depends," he said with a smile. "What cartoons do you like?"

"Well…" She started looking bashful again. "I know it's kind of silly and it's a pretty old show, but I really like this one called _Warrior Pegasus Princess_. I just… I just can't stop watching the adventures of Princess Moonbeam." She was now attempting to hide behind her bangs.

When Puddin finally looked back at Paata, she was surprised to find he was no longer smiling but was looking at her with an almost stunned expression. Then, a small smile spread across his face. He stood up to his full height and drew his sword with a sharp ring of steel.

"Behold!" he said dramatically as he thrust his blade into the sky, "for the story of our resolve is written in our battle cries!"

Puddin's mouth dropped open. She _knew_ this! Paata glanced at her from the corner of his eye and winked at her. She could feel her mouth turning into an immense grin.

"Those that stand against us," she picked up, "lack something that is always by our side! The joys of life!"

"The joys that come from the will and capacity for friendship! For love!"

"And with those joys, we shall show you no mercy!"

" _Taste the wrath of love!_ " they both shouted, striking dramatic poses. A few moments of silence passed before they heard a scattered round of applause. The other Time Patrollers in the courtyard laughed and clapped for them, but Puddin was barely listening.

"We should get together and do a marathon sometime!" she said happily, bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Just give me the time and place," Paata answered with a smile, sheathing his sword.

Before Puddin could really get into a discussion on her absolute favorite show, she heard a voice calling her name. She spun around with a smile.

"Daddy!" she said, bounding over to give her father a flying tackle hug. Dumplin plucked her out of the air and spun her around. Trunks was standing next to him and hopped to the side to avoid Puddin's flailing feet.

"Miss me, sweetie?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, "but Paata and I had a really great time. Can he come over to our house sometime? Please please please please?"

"I take it things went well?" Dumplin said, glancing at Paata. The Saiyan smiled and bowed.

"We got along very well together," he said. "It turns out we share a few interests. We also did a little training today. I showed her how to do a punch." Suddenly, Paata's smile turned slightly evil. "Um, Mr. Trunks, sir?"

"Yes Paata?" Trunks answered.

"Could you hold this for Puddin?" Paata asked, pulling out a large padded punch shield. "I need to see how her whole posture is when she punches."

"Um…" Trunks said, pointing at the large piece of training equipment. "Where did you get that?"

"I carry exercise equipment everywhere," Paata said with a shrug.

Again, Trunks decided to accept that explanation. Without another word, he took the shield in and braced himself to receive Puddin's punch, but he didn't seem too concerned.

"Alright Puddin," Paata said, "just like we practiced. Hit it as hard as you can."

She nodded and took her position in front of Trunks. She took her stance, took a few breathes, and brought her fist back before snapping it forward.

SMACK!

" _AAAAAAaaaaaaaaa_ _aaaaaaaa…._ " Trunks screamed as he was sent flying into the air, over the ledge, and across the skyline of Conton City into the business district. Based on the angle, it looked like he landed somewhere close to the school. There were a few moments of silence in the courtyard.

"BWA-HAHAHAHAHA!" Dumplin roared with laughter. "That never gets old!" In moments, every nearby Time Patroller was laughing, barely able to stay standing.

"Hehehe," Puddin giggled. "Oops." Paata and Dumplin both gave her a thumbs-up, making her giggle even harder.

Things were good in Conton City.

* * *

 **Paata, the lovable Saiyan with the lovable butt, is property of MasakoX. I plan on having a lot of fun with this guy. Hope you guys liked the chapter. See you guys next time!**


	5. Growing Up Puddin

**AN: Hello and welcome to The Adventures of Puddin. Happy Belated Father's Day to all of the dads out there. I bring forth a new chapter that I hope you all enjoy. Have fun!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Growing Up Puddin**

Puddin pressed herself deeper into the shadows of her family's dining room, hands clamped over her mouth. Her heart pounded in her ears. She knew that if she uttered the tiniest squeak, she would be found.

A floorboard in the family room squeaked. Puddin tried to stifle her cry of fright.

Footsteps came into the room. The dark figure looked from side to side, scanning the room.

"You know you can't hide," the figure said. "Just let this happen."

Puddin curled up even more, desperate to make herself as small as possible. If he saw her, she was done for. She now deeply regretted choosing bright green for her training gi.

The footsteps, slow and methodical, stalked past the corner she crouched trembling in. They were heading into the kitchen, but the hunter would be back in moments.

Puddin took her chance and ran.

She sprang from her corner and sprinted through the living room, the slapping of her bare feet on the wood floors was practically silent compared to the pounding of her heart. She managed to hear the stomping footsteps behind her, which only spurred her to greater speed.

She made it to the other side of the room and reached for the door handle, but her hand never made it. She found herself blocked by some invisible barrier. She couldn't get to the door. She barely had a moment to realize her situation before hands seized her in an iron grip.

"Figured I'd take some precautions to make sure you didn't leave," her captor said. "Now come on. I'm getting impatient."

"No! Noooo!" Puddin cried, trying to wriggle and free herself from his grip. Unfortunately, the assailant was much stronger than her.

He half dragged and half carried her down the hall, with her fighting him every step of the way. As they got closer and closer to the door at the end of the hall, she found herself relieved of her gi. Her undergarments soon followed. He shouldered open the door at the end of the hall to come into a bright room. She struggled and kicked, but she could not stop him. He raised her up and flung her down into-

 _SPLASH!_

Puddin sat up in the bathtub and rubbed furiously at her face, hissing and spitting.

"Soap in my eye!" she cried. "Soap in my eye!"

"It's your own damn fault," grumbled Dumplin as he took a seat next to the tub and began scrubbing furiously at her filthy head tendrils. "It's what you get for deciding to play in the dirt with Paata."

"He was teaching me grappling!" she protested.

"Whatever," Dumplin said dismissively.

"I hate the water!" Puddin yowled.

"Adjust."

When Dumplin took his hands off of her to rub soap between his palms, Puddin tried to jump out of the tub and make a break for it. Dumplin was too fast for her, however, and held her in place as he shampooed her tendrils.

"Don't try it, Puddin," he said, wringing out a sponge over her head to wash the suds off. "I am so not in the mood today. Your mother…" He stopped his ministrations and sighed. "Never mind."

Puddin didn't need anything more than that. The sadness washed over her again as she sat there and let her daddy wash her.

It had been her first day of training, and her mother hadn't come to see her.

* * *

After Puddin's display of strength against Trunks, Dumplin was as proud as he could possibly be and Trunks now had a reputation among the Time Patrollers as The Guy Who Got Knocked Out by A Five-week-old Girl.

Fortunately for Trunks, it didn't catch on.

Dumplin signed Puddin up to get formal training at the Time Patroller academy and she started lessons one week later. She was the youngest there, in both physical and actual age, but her sheer strength stunned the instructors. She was so excited that they needed to put thirty pound weights on all of her limbs just to keep her still. She had started the day by accidently crushing one of the workout machines when she tried to use it and everything went downhill from there. A Majin instructor named Punohsa took a fast liking to Puddin's upbeat personality and endless energy. She started teaching Puddin the basics of the Majin fighting style, taking advantage of her inherent strength and elastic limbs. Puddin was still working on getting her arms to stretch when Ponuhsa called an end of the day. The training session ended both because it was nearing sundown and because Puddin had single-handedly destroyed over a dozen punching bags over the course of the day. A few of the other instructors seemed a little fearful of Puddin taking regular lessons.

Despite the fact that she beginning her training to become a Time Patroller and that she got to spend some time training with Paata, Puddin was feeling sad on the way home. She had eagerly told her mother that she would be training today and kept pestering her until Towa finally caved and told her she would come and watch. Puddin had spent the whole day eagerly looking over toward where her dad was sitting at the side of the dojo, each time hoping with all of her heart that she would find her mother sitting there with him.

She never came.

When Puddin and Dumplin finally made it home, the sight of a note from Towa telling them she had gone out to find some new samples for her research had put Dumplin and Puddin in a very unhappy mood. Even a delicious dinner of macaroni and cheese wasn't enough to lift their spirits.

* * *

Later that night, after Puddin's bath, Towa eventually came home and promptly disappeared into her lab without saying a single word to either of them. Puddin had knocked on the basement door for almost five minutes in order to get her mother's attentions before just giving up and going to bed. She lay on her bed and held her stuffed animals close, trying not to cry as she slowly fell asleep.

* * *

 **Time Patrol Training Dojo – The Next Day**

"I'm sorry, Dumplin, but the other instructors have expressed… shall we say, _concerns_ about Puddin continuing to train at this present moment," Ponuhsa said, looking apologetically at Dumplin and Puddin. "They think her strength is too much of a loose cannon. I voted to continue the lessons, but they overruled me. Until your daughter can gain a greater degree of control over her strength, she cannot continue her lessons here." She looked down at the heartbroken Puddin, tears in the corner of her own eyes. Ponuhsa knelt down and wrapped her arms around the girl. "I am so sorry, Puddin, but I can't do anything about it." Puddin returned the hug as her own tears trailed down her face.

The ensuing silence was broken by the sound of an explosion from within the training hall.

"Please no!" screamed a male voice. "I'm a pacifist!"

"You're a pussy!" another voice roared before there were sounds of more explosions.

"Yes," Dumplin drawled, " _clearly_ things will be much safer if Puddin does not attend. I'm sure there are no _other_ reasons that Puddin was denied, right?" Ponuhsa looked at the ground, unable to meet his gaze.

"I am not privy to the motives of the other instructors," she said. "I fought for you two, sir, and I would happily fight for you again, but this is out of my hands."

Dumplin sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"It's alright. I know this wasn't your fault," he said. He squared his shoulders and gave her a determined look. "Just tell those instructors of your that she'll be back tomorrow and they better be ready to train her. C'mon Sweetheart. We've got work to do."

Puddin nodded and dejectedly trudged after him, sniffling and wiping away her tears. As they passed the main courtyard of Conton City, she looked over at the larger-than-life holographic display of Dumplin. The monument had always inspired her, encouraging her to become a Time Patroller to live up to her daddy's legacy. Now, though, it seemed there were some who would rather deny her the chance.

"They're not gonna let me train tomorrow, Daddy," she sniffled, looking at her father. "You heard what Ponuhsa said. The other masters don't like me."

"It's not that they don't like you, Puddin," Dumplin said, pulling her close to his side and giving her a hug. "It's that they're scared of me, and therefore of you. But we'll show them. When you show up tomorrow, you won't break a single thing by accident."

"How am I gonna do that?"

"Something your mom has," he said vaguely.

They had reached the front door of their cottage and entered through the front door. Towa was, wonder of wonders, in the family room, sipping a cup of tea while reading a book. Dumplin let out a long breath through his teeth before turning back to Puddin.

"Sweetheart, go to your room and pack up all of your clothes. Might as well pack your stuffed animals too. I need some time to talk to your mother."

"Okay, Daddy," Puddin said, going off to do what she was told.

Dumplin turned back to Towa. She shot him a glance before returning to her book.

"I take it since you both are here that the training sessions aren't going well," she said.

"Not like you would know. Puddin was crushed that you didn't come yesterday."

"I was carrying out very important research. I didn't have the time to come see her sloppily punching a bag."

"'Very important' my ass. This is our _daughter_ , Towa." Dumplin paused and let out another breath, willing himself to stay calm. "Look, I need to help Puddin control her strength. It's gonna take a lot of work, so we need to use that Door you made."

"Well go ahead," she said dismissively. "You know where it is."

"You're coming with us," Dumplin said in a tone that brooked no argument. Towa did not seem to get that impression as her eyes snapped back up to meet his.

"Why would I want to do that?" she asked.

"Because your daughter has no idea who her mother really is," said Dumplin. "Because if you miss out on this much time with her, you're going to regret it." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "And because you'll be much more efficient in your work if you come with us." That last statement sounded almost reluctant. Towa stared at him for a few long moments. "Please," said Dumplin. "I'm actually begging you to come." After a pause, Towa sighed.

"Fine," she said, standing up. "I have a few experiments that could use a little extra time. Just let me pack up and we'll leave at noon. Oh, and make sure to tell Cupcake to grab our paper tomorrow."

Towa walked down the hall to grab her things while Dumplin stood in the living room.

"Please let this work," he whispered to himself. "Please, please let this work."

* * *

Ever since the day she was born, Puddin had never been in the family basement. It had always been considered Mom's Place, and no others were welcome. Regardless, she found herself and her entire family standing in the basement with enough luggage to signify a long vacation. Her father had told her they were taking a training trip, but that still left many questions unanswered.

The three of them stood in front of a dark brown wooden door set into the wall. The frame around it was absolutely covered with hundreds upon hundreds of runes and markings. Puddin looked from the door to her parents and then back again.

"What's this thing?" she asked, unconsciously squeezing the plush dragon her father had given her a few weeks ago.

"One of my older projects," Towa said, looking down at her. "Your father kept pestering me to help find him a better way to train, and I eventually came up with this. We've both used it once in the past and he wants to go again to help you control your power."

"How does it work?" Puddin asked. "It's just a door."

"It's easier to just show you," Dumplin said, moving towards it. He opened the door and ushered his family in. Puddin gasped, rubbed her eyes, and gasped again.

White. White as far as she could see. An endless void extended outward far into the distance. She and her family were standing in the main room of some kind of house with a completely open wall leading to an open stone patio. She looked around in silent awe as Towa moved to deposit her bags on the counter of a small kitchen while Dumplin shut the door behind him.

" _This_ is in our basement?!" Puddin finally managed to say. "It's huge!" Her expression of absolute shock made Dumplin laugh.

"Not exactly, Sweetheart," he said. "It's kind of like a pocket world. The door leads to this world, no matter where it is placed. Also, time moves differently while in here. One year spent inside is equal to only one day outside."

"Wow," Puddin said, looking out at the endless white ground and sky. "Is there anything out there?"

"No," said Towa, coming over to stand by her. "There's only this house and the void."

 _Void… void… void…_

Puddin stared outward.

"Does it always do that?" she asked.

"Just when you say 'void'," said Dumplin.

 _Void… void… void…_

"Spooky," said Puddin.

"Yeah, kinda," agreed Dumplin. "Alright, so this is a pretty comfortable place to live for a year. Bathroom and showers are through that door and up those stairs are a few bedrooms. They're all the same, so you can pick out where you want to sleep. First, though, drop your stuff and take off your weights."

"Um, okay," Puddin said, placing her bags on the ground and taking off her training weights. Each of them made a loud thud when they hit the tiled ground.

"Alright, now come with me," Dumplin said, leading her outside. Puddin shrugged and followed him.

The instant she stepped out onto the patio, Puddin was almost driven to her knees. She felt like someone had strapped a car to her back. Planting her feet, she managed to stand up straight. After the surprise had worn off, she could stand upright, but it was much harder than it should be.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"As soon as you walk outside, the gravity increases to ten times the amount you're used to. The further you are from the house, the higher the gravity will become." He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "I just want you to know that we are going to be doing some serious training for the next year. I'll get you started on fighting and we'll build up your strength, but most of all you need to learn to control your strength. Alright?"

"Nyaa~! I can't wait," Puddin said excitedly.

"Good," said Dumplin. "Now go pick out a room and unpack. When you're done, come out here and we'll get started with some warm up laps."

"You got it, Daddy!" Puddin exclaimed, saluting him before running inside.

"Are you sure she's ready for this yet?" Towa asked, walking outside to stand beside him.

"Of course she is," Dumplin said. He grinned at Towa. "She's our kid after all."

Towa nodded, but said nothing.

A few minutes later, Puddin practically jumped down the stairs and ran outside, stumbling slightly as she exited the house. She straightened up and stood before her daddy, practically vibrating with excitement. Dumplin smiled proudly at her.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "Let's get started."

* * *

 **Yup. Towa created the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. I feel like, if anyone in this canon was most likely to think up a training dimension with a messed up time flow, it would probably be the demonic mad scientist that routinely messes with time. I think that after his transformation, Mr. Popo tried to recreate the Chamber but couldn't do it quite as well, so the house was much smaller.**

 **Hope you all liked the chapter. See you next time.**


	6. When It All Began To Mend

**AN: Full disclosure, not entirely happy with this chapter. It was a bit of a slog and taking summer college classes certainly did not help matters. Rest assured, the next chapter is one I'm really looking forward to, and I hope to have it posted sometime next week. I hope you guys enjoy this. Thanks to all of my favs, watchers, and reviewers.**

 **Chapter 6 – When It Began to Mend…**

Months passed in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, as Towa called it, and Puddin had excelled in her training by leaps and bounds. Under the tutelage of her father, she was mastering the basics of the Majin fighting style and could use her stretchy arms to punch someone from over five meters away. She had started her training feeling squeezed by the times ten gravity outside the door, but now she could sprint in a times fifteen gravity zone for almost a quarter of an hour before she had stop and rest. She had also learned how to fly and how to throw energy blasts. Granted, the only stable energy blast she could currently make was about the size of a tennis ball, but progress was still progress.

Thankfully, Puddin had grown during those months. After eating enough food from the constantly refilling pantry, Puddin was shocked to wake up one day and find that she had grown exponentially overnight. She was now the size of an older teenager, and she was also surprised that she now had boobs! The new form she gained wasn't quite comfortable to fight in initially, but she soon adjusted to her new proportions. She had at first been mortified when none of her clothes would fit her anymore, but her parents helped her out with that. At the start, her mother made Puddin an outfit that looked exactly like her own, but it just made Dumplin uncomfortable. After a quick discussion, Puddin agreed and asked her daddy to make her some new outfits with his Clothes Beam. Her normal attire now consisted of bright yellow pants with a pink and green belt, neon green boots with pink trim, pink armbands, a dark red chest wrap, a neon green vest with the Time Patrol insignia on it, and a bright pink scarf tied around her neck. The outfit showed off Puddin's midriff, which she was perfectly fine with. She liked to show off the arrangement of steam holes that formed a heart on her stomach. To Puddin, it was the perfect outfit for training in.

The training she was going through was extensive and varied indeed. For the moment, however, Puddin was focused on a very unorthodox training exercise.

"Here it comes!" Dumplin said, tossing a ball into the air. A hundred yards away from him, Puddin crouched low to the ground like a sprinter waiting for the gun. Her eyes followed the baseball up into the air until it reached its peak before coming down. Her muscles clenched like a coiled spring. She was ready. The ball descended to her father's chest level. That was when he swung the bat he was holding.

The sound it made was less of a crack and more of an explosion, and that wasn't even counting the sonic boom that came as the baseball immediately accelerated past the speed of sound. Puddin took to the air the instant her father's bat and the ball made contact. Faster than the normal eye could see, she sped through the air to intercept the ball. Just as it was about to pass her, her hand snapped forward and the ball flew into her mitt with a satisfying _thunk_.

"Nice catch, Sweetheart!" Dumplin called.

"Nyaa~" Puddin said happily before tossing the ball back to him.

Ever since her daddy had first introduced her to the stickball sport, Puddin had adored it. The Time Patrol actually held a baseball championship every year, but the last one was before she was born. She was looking forward to playing in the coming championship. For a few months now, Dumplin had found many ways to turn baseball practice into a form of training for her.

"Here comes another," Dumplin called before hitting the ball again. Puddin did not move from her position, but instead stretched her mitt arm as quick as a snake to catch the ball. "Great one!" Dumplin called with a laugh.

Puddin smiled and tossed the ball back to her father. After a tough morning of high-gravity sprints and hand-to-hand practice, it was nice to unwind with a bit of fun.

However, when Puddin looked past her father back to the house, her mood dropped.

Next to the patio, her mother had set up a sort of makeshift lab. A bunch of tables were arranged in a rough circle and were covered with test tubes, Bunsen burners, and oddles of other sciency things, along with perhaps a half dozen in-progress experiments. Towa was there now, mixing some liquids and powders to make some sort of new rune paint. The demon woman had set up that lab on the second day in the Time Chamber and had gotten into the habit of spending most of her waking hours there.

 _Different environment, same old Mom_ , Puddin thought sadly.

Dumplin followed her gaze before she saw his eyes narrow.

"One second," he said, dropping the bat.

Before Puddin could say a word, he was stomping off in the direction of Towa's makeshift lab. Despite herself, Puddin found herself flying closer to watch and listen. Dumplin squeezed between two tables and stood behind Towa with his hands planted on his hips. Towa was dividing her attentions between a mixture and an open journal she was scribbling notes in.

"I don't understand why you are bothering me, dear," Towa said without turning, gently swirling the mixture in a flask. "I have work that I'm trying to do."

"You always have work to do, Towa," Dumplin said. "Why don't you take a break? Play some baseball with us? It's fun."

Towa glanced over her shoulder at him before turning back to her mixture.

"There are literally hundreds of better uses of my time than hitting a ball back and forth. Go play with your daughter. She seems to be enjoying it."

"She's _your_ daughter too, y'know," said Dumplin. Towa stilled at hearing that. Following her father's example, Puddin landed next to him in Towa's area.

"Please, Mom," Puddin begged. "Baseball's so much fun, you'll see. We just want to spend some quality time with you. Please don't avoid us."

 _Void… void… void…_

Towa glanced at Puddin. That was her undoing. She snapped her eyes back to the mixture in her hands, but it was too late. She had witnessed the most powerful weapon in Puddin's arsenal.

The Puddin Pout.

Her eyes had become huge and glistening. Her lower lip trembled, as if on the verge of tears.

Most beings could not resist its power. Towa desperately wanted to believe she was not most beings.

"This is very important," she said, but her resolve was weakening. "I need to… to make sure it reaches the right thickness."

"Please~?" Puddin whined. "Please please please please _pleeeeeeeeaaase_?"

Towa broke.

"Okay! Alright!" she snapped, placing the flask on the table with a little more force than necessary. "If it will keep the two of you quiet for five minutes, then fine."

"Nyaa~" Puddin cheered, jumping over Towa's lab table to stride proudly back to where Dumplin had left his bat. The Demon God himself followed at a more sedate pace, keeping alongside Towa, who just sighed and moved forward like she were going to her execution.

"It's not that bad, honey," Dumplin said, patting her arm. "It's just a little bit of family fun. We'll play a few games and then you can get back to your science."

"Very well," Towa said as they reached their Puddin, who was bouncing up and down in excitement.

"So babe," Dumplin said, picking up the bat, "how you wanna play this?" As soon as he finished, Towa snatched the bat out of his hands.

"I think I'll be at bat first. You two better ready yourselves." She grinned evilly at the determined Puddin. "I won't be as nice as your father was."

"Bring it," Puddin said with a big smile.

* * *

And like that, it seemed the family was beginning to tighten their bonds. When Puddin and Dumplin were playing baseball, throwing water balloons, or doing some other fun activity as a means of training, they would pester Towa until she agreed to join them. As the months passed and the time of their exit grew closer, Towa required less and less convincing every time they asked. She even smiled as they played together.

One day, as he was doing some training of his own, Dumplin spied Towa giving Puddin a lesson on the timeline and multiverse theory. Towa was obviously enjoying having a student and Puddin was listening to her with rapt attention. Dumplin turned away and smiled.

It had worked. His family was whole again.

* * *

 **Conton City**

Paata sat against the wall of the Time Patrol training hall, mindlessly scraping a whetstone down the edge of his sword. It was a mindless task meant to distract himself as he waited and also a means to keep his Saiyan urges in check.

Punohsa had told him yesterday about how the instructors had denied Puddin the chance to train, and he had immediately marched over to their cottage to volunteer as her tutor, even if he was still a cadet. When he arrived, however, the house was completely lifeless. Their neighbor, a pink Majin named Cupcake, could only tell him that they had left on a day trip, but she had no idea where they had gone. In fact, _nobody_ had an idea where they had gone. Even Trunks didn't have a clue as to his partner's whereabouts. After hours of fruitless searching, he gave up and decided to wait until Dumplin and Puddin arrived.

So there he was, sharpening his sword and trying very hard not to glare at the other instructors, who were clustered in a group and whispering to each other. Doubtless they were trying to think up some way to keep Puddin from being trained, and therefore from becoming a Time Patroller.

Despite his reputation as the hero who kept Toki Toki City from being destroyed, Dumplin had many detractors within the ranks of the Time Patrol. Apparently, some people didn't feel comfortable with a warrior who had absorbed a Demon God that even Chronoa could not vanquish. They were likewise very uncomfortable with the thought of what his daughter might do if given the chance.

 _Blind fools_.

Paata took a few calming breaths and sheathed his sword. He respected Dumplin. He was a powerful and skilled warrior, one Paata would be happy to fight alongside. He was also a man who loved and cherished his family. That was all Paata needed to know.

 _Bong!_ went a nearby clock. Paata glanced at it before turning his gaze back to the entryway. Punohsa was leaning against the wall next to him, also watching the entrance to the training hall. She was just as eager to see Puddin return as he was.

"You think they'll be here?" he asked her. She gave a snort of laughter.

"I've known Dumplin for longer than you, kid," she said. "If he said they'll be here, they'll be here." The instant she said that, she suddenly straightened in surprise. "Speak of the Demon," she said. Paata spun to face the door to the training hall, but it didn't open. When he strained his ears, however, he could hear a quiet conversation on the other side of the door.

"Okay," he heard Dumplin say, "this is the song you wanted, right?"

"Yup. That's the one." That sounded so much like Puddin, but something seemed… off about it.

"I still don't understand why we're doing this," drawled a more mature voice. Paata blinked in shock. That was Towa. Towa hardly ever left the house unless she was collecting samples for her experiments.

"I have to make the perfect entrance, Mom. Alright, on three. One… Two… Three!"

The doors suddenly flew open just a song started playing.

 _Don't you dare stare, you better move_

 _Don't ever compare_

 _Me to the rest that'll all get sliced and diced_

 _Competition's payin' the price_

 _I'm gonna knock you out_

 _Mama said knock you out_

 _I'm gonna knock you out_

 _Mama said knock you out_

Paata had to blink a few times to make sure he was seeing things correctly. Dumplin was standing in the entryway, there was no mistaking him, and he was holding a boom box over his head. Next to him was Towa, still dressed in her curve-hugging bodysuit and leaning on her staff. She also wore a backpack.

Standing in front of them was a teenage grey Majin girl. She was dressed in a midriff-bearing outfit with the most neon color imaginable. She had Puddin's tendril-style, Puddin's bright blue eyes, Puddin's cat-like mouth, Puddin's-

 _That's Puddin_ , his mind finally deduced. _That's actually Puddin_.

She stood confidently in the entranceway, hands on her hips and smiling at the group of now-silent instructors. Paata was blinking rapidly, struggling to match up the young woman before him with the little girl he had seen mere days ago. Puddin's eyes turned to him and her face split into a huge, happy, completely-Puddin-like smile.

"Paata!" she cried happily, seeming to teleport to his side. Before Paata could even voice his surprise, she had snatched him up in a bone-crushing hug, swinging him for side to side. "Ohmygosh it's been so long and I missed you cause it's been a whole year but I'm so much stronger now so we can have awesome spars and I really want to watch more cartoons with you cause it's been so long and just-just-just NYAH I missed you!"

"Puddin," gasped Paata. "Ribs. Crushing the ribs."

"Oops," she said before gently setting him down. As he rubbed his likely-bruised torso, Puddin was still practically bouncing in place. "Sorry Paata, it's just been so long since I've seen you."

"Um, it's been like two days," he said in confusion.

"Maybe for you," she said with a smile. "For me it's felt like a year."

"Um… okay then," said Paata, now hopelessly confused. Puddin just gave him another, more gentle hug and turned to Punohsa.

"Hey Punohsa," she said with a wave. "Hope you're ready to train. You and I have a lot of catching up to do."

"Looking forward to it, Puddin," she said with a smile.

"Um, we're still here," said another voice. "Stop ignoring us."

Everyone turned to look at the group of instructors, who were staring at Puddin with disbelief. One of the teachers, a Namekian named Kurimiga, stepped forward.

"We want to know what is going on here," he said, "but first, what happened to you? You've grown exponentially, and not just in size. What happened?"

"Daddy and I trained for a whole year yesterday," Puddin said with a smile. The other instructors all blinked in unison.

"…Anyway," Kurimiga said slowly, "If you want to train here, you'll need to prove you can control your strength. Can you do this?"

"You bet I do," Puddin said with a grin. "I'm gonna knock your socks off."

"If you say so," Kurimiga said as he crossed his arms. He did not look like he believed her, but Puddin just smiled and turned to her family.

"Mom, the plates."

Towa smiled before pulling the backpack off of her shoulders. She reached in and grabbed something before tossing it to Puddin, almost faster than Paata could see. Regardless, Puddin caught it easily, and he saw it was a blue and white china bowl. Within seconds, Towa was tossing more and more china pieces at her daughter and Puddin began to juggle the various plates and bowls. She would toss them up before deftly plucking them out of the air and passing them back and forth between her hands, sometimes behind her back as well. Paata just stood there blinking. The Puddin he had seen a few days ago would not have been capable of something like this.

"Uh…" Kurimiga said, looking uncomfortable, "where exactly did you find that china?"

"Oh, your place," Puddin said offhandedly as she continued to juggle. The Namekian suddenly looked like as if he were trying to pass an entire marble bag of kidney stones. Paata had to work hard to stifle his laughter.

Puddin's routine ended with her flinging the plates and bowls into the air in such a way that they came down to form a perfect stack in the palm of her hand. She took a moment to admire her work before offering it to Kurimiga with a smile.

"Impressed?" she asked. Kurimiga just silently took the china from her, his stunned expression mirroring those of the other instructors. The silence was broken by the sound of a slow clap.

"Very well done, Puddin," a female voice said. Everyone turned to face the new arrival, and the sight of who it was made Paata and all of the instructors snap to attention.

" _Supreme Kai of Time!_ " they all said at once, bowing in respect. Kurimiga just barely managed to keep the china from spilling out of his hands.

"Sup, Chronoa?" Dumplin said with a half-nod, drawing a few glares from the instructors. Chronoa just shook her head and gave him a look.

"Hello Dumplin. I suppose that there's no real point in asking if Puddin's spontaneous growth spurt is at all connected to where you've been the last twenty-four hours?"

"You could say that," Dumplin answered with a smile.

"And where have you been?"

"Are you sure you want to know the answer?"

Chronoa shot him a small glare.

"I don't usually ask questions I don't want to know the answers to."

"This is one of those questions," Dumplin said. "Trust me on this."

After a few moments of glaring at Dumplin, Chronoa seemed to decide that she wouldn't get anything out of him. She turned to Puddin and smiled.

"Good to see you back, Puddin," she said with a smile. "I was on my way over to sort out this little disagreement, but I see you have everything well in hand." She sent a powerful look at the instructors, who were each looking a shade paler. Punohsa couldn't stop grinning. "I think we're all reasonably impressed with Puddin's abilities, correct?"

"Yes," they all said.

"And there is no problem with her continuing her training to join the Time Patrol, correct?"

"Correct," they all said, looking like Christmas and Halloween had just been canceled. Paata smirked.

"In that case," Chronoa said with a smile, "I see no problems here. Puddin will be given a spot in the training roster and she'll start her Academy lessons when the winter holiday is over."

"Nyah~!" cheered Puddin, hopping with joy. Dumplin was smiling proudly while Towa's smile, though smaller, was still present. Punohsa looked absolutely smug as the other instructors slunk off in dejected silence.

That is, until they all heard the sound of breaking china, swiftly followed by Kurimiga's cry of anguish.

"So," Punohsa said, "ready to get started? I need to test you again to figure out where you stand."

"In a little bit," Puddin said. "First, Paata's taking me to get ice cream."

"I am?" he asked.

"You are," she said.

"Okay," he said with a grin. They said their farewells to the others and went on their way. "So…" Paata began, "how did you _really_ get as big as you are now? To be honest, I'm kinda missing the cute little goo girl who was running around the city a few days ago."

Puddin smiled.

"Well, as a girl gets older, she'll start to see some dramatic changes in her body. These can include-"

"Stop stop stop! Nevermind! I get it!" Paata said, waving his arms as if to brush away her words. Puddin laughed. Paata found himself laughing too.

It was good to have her home.

 **PS: Puddin's current outfit is her starting gear in DBXenoverse 2. All of Puddin's future outfits are featured in the TFS Let's Play, so those can be used for reference.**


	7. When The Edges Frayed

**AN: Hello and welcome to the Adventures of Puddin. Before I get too into things... *falls to the ground before you* I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! Prep for grad school plus moving plus writer's block was an absolutely terrible cocktail, not to mention the chapter I initially planned to post needed to have some prior events added in. Hence, we have this chapter, a bit of a prologue to what I had initially planned. I have just started grad school, so I'm sorry to say that updates are going to be slower because of real life. I do promise, however, that you WILL get updates. The next chapter is about 80% done, so it should be up sooner rather than later. (Oh god, please don't quote me on that!)**

 **Anyhoo, on with the show.**

 **Chapter 7: ...When The Edges Frayed**

Puddin shifted her grip on her weapon, waiting for the perfect moment. She adjusted her footing slightly and tilted the club a few degrees up. Her entire body was like a coiled spring. Her fingers twitched anxiously, ready to move at the slightest provocation. Her feet shifted slightly, scuffing across the dirt.

With a high pitched whine, her target suddenly streaked toward her. With a blur of motion, Puddin struck, swinging her weapon faster than the eye could see. A series of tiny sonic booms followed her club as it slashed through the air. It connected with Puddin's target with a loud, piercing CRACK, and her target was sent flying. It streaked through the sky and blasted a hole through an innocent cloud that had just been minding its own business. Puddin smiled and looked at Punohsa for approval. The older Majin, wearing a jersey, cap, and whistle today, grinned and nodded in approval.

"I think we just found our star hitter," she said. Other patrollers at the tryout nodded in stunned agreement. "Nice work, Puddin."

"Nyaa~!" Puddin cheered, bouncing up and down happily. "I won't let you down, Coach!"

"I'm sure you won't, Puddin," Punohsa said with a smile. "Alright, then. Sherbet! Front and center! Let's see how you handle a bat."

Puddin took her seat on the bench as a nervous looking Frost Demon took her place at home plate. Puddin happily hummed to herself, satisfied with her performance. When they were talking over ice cream, she had told Paata about her discovery of baseball and how much fun it was to play with her dad. He quickly told her about the Time Patrol Baseball League, which he had taken part in last year and was going to have tryouts in the next few days. He was on a mostly Saiyan team called the Raging Ravagers, led by academy instructor Saimo. Seized by the excitement of being on a baseball team, Puddin decided to try out for Punohsa's team, the Super Scrappers, partly because she really wanted to have Punohsa as her coach and partly because the Scrappers' uniforms, by sheer luck, were lime green.

Puddin looked out over the field the Time Patrol used to Super Baseball. It was one of two fields they had, with the two of them floating on opposite ends of Conton City. Unlike normal baseball diamonds, these were designed with super-powerful Time Patrollers in mind, so the bases were over a hundred yards apart and every other area of the diamond was appropriately scaled up. This was a field that the players could really cut loose on, instead of constraining themselves to the normal sized baseball diamond.

The tryouts continued for a few more hours and Punohsa was able to fill up her roster. Puddin spent the time either daydreaming or chatting with Cupcake, her friend and next door neighbor. Cupcake had had been friends with Dumplin since they moved into their house and she had formed a friendship with Puddin shortly after she started training. The friendly pink Majin was likely to be the team shortstop, partly thanks to her stretchy arms that could move just slightly faster than Puddin's.

"So, there I was on the palace wall," Cupcake told her, practically vibrating from laughter at a joke yet to be told. Her black and red eyes were twinkling with mirth. "Kid Goku's standing on my right with his bo staff and Bulma's standing on my left wearing a suit of power armor. We've also got Yamcha, Tien, and the Royal Guard all at the ready. King Piccolo and the Red Ribbon Army have completely surrounded the palace. He's got a Demon Destruction Wave aimed right at the wall. We are about two seconds from having our defenses breached and the palace flooded with demons and fascists. Then, guess what happens?"

"He starts talking to nobody like all bad guys do?" Puddin asked with a smile.

"Exactly!" Cupcake said. "Sweet kais, Puddin, it's unbelievable how much time these bad guys just spend _talking_ about killing the good guys instead of actually doing it!" Both of them giggled before Cupcake continued. "He starts going on about how, now that he has absorbed Kami, he's ready to destroy our cities and name himself lord of the planet. The people I'm with have nowhere to go and he just won't shut up." Cupcake rolled her eyes. "Anyway, so Demon King Piccolo-" At this, Puddin just rolled her eyes.

"There is only one true Demon Lord," she said.

"Yeah yeah, I know. It's your dear old dad, long may he reign and all that stuff, but let me finish. So Piccolo is prepping his wave and mouthing off, so I decide to take the initiative. I speed down into the throng of soldiers and start smashing tanks left and right before he could even finish saying 'prepare to die'. When he turns to look at me, Goku nails him right in the head with that stick. Piccolo had the _stupidest_ look on his face!" The two of them dissolved into giggles, prompting Punohsa to give them a look.

"Look ladies, I know that Piflam's hitting isn't exactly professional grade, but there's no need to be giggling about it." The teenage Namekian at bat turned a deeper shade of green as she said that.

"We were talking about something else, Coach," said Cupcake. "Sorry to interrupt you, Piflam. You're doing good." Cupcake shot him a wink and a smile. If at all possible, the Namekian seemed to turn even greener.

"I'll tell you more later," Cupcake whispered. Puddin nodded and sat back to watch the rest of the tryouts. When everything was said and done, Punohsa called them all to stand in a circle around her.

"Alright, everyone," said Punohsa, "the roster will be as follows." Puddin phased out for a little while until she heard names she cared about. "Cupcake is shortstop and is third at bat. Puddin will be in the outfield and fifth at bat. We want to build up some people on bases before she knocks one out of the park." Punohsa tucked her clipboard away and put a hand on her hip. "That's all for today, folks. Be here at 9 am sharp tomorrow for practice. Scrappers, dismissed."

" _Yes Coach!_ " they all said at once before they dispersed.

Puddin and Cupcake walked home together, giving Cupcake the time to finish her story, including how she forcibly ripped Kami out of King Piccolo before Goku delivered the final blow.

When they reached their houses, they split ways. After waving goodbye, Puddin unlocked her front door and stepped inside. She stepped inside, dismissively tossing her keys onto the table beside the door. She heard voices in the living room and creeped forward to get a better look. The sight that awaited her froze her in her tracks.

Details eventually began to filter into her utterly fried mind. First, Towa was out of her lab. Second, she was sitting down on the couch with Dumplin. Third, she was reclining back on the couch while Dumplin delicately lowered a chocolate covered strawberry toward her mouth. Towa had a sultry smile on her face as she bit into the strawberry, letting out a moan of appreciation that was probably less about the snack and more about something… different. Towa delicately chewed on the fruit before looking into Dumplin's face. That's when something incredible happened. It happened for only a second, but Puddin was sure she had seen it. The next instant, Towa noticed Puddin standing in the hallway, and her face shifted back to a neutral mask. Dumplin followed her gaze and he smiled happily at Puddin.

"Sweetheart! Welcome home. How were the tryouts?"

"Um… pretty good," Puddin managed to answer, mentally stumbling for a moment. "I made the team-"

"WAHOO!" her father cheered, making Puddin smile. "Congratulations, Sweetheart."

"Thanks Daddy. Anyway, I'm playing outfield and Punohsa is already saying I might be the star hitter. We'll just have to see how I do in practice."

"Nice work, Puddin." Dumplin got up from the couch and gave her a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you. How about I order some pizza tonight? What do you want?"

"Oh! One meat lovers, one with extra cheese, and one with French fries and Oreos."

"Got it," he said, moving toward the phone. "What do you want, babe?" Dumplin and Puddin both turned toward Towa, who just looked at them without an expression. After a long moment, she stood up with a stretch.

"I should go back to my experiments. Leave out a pepperoni, Dumplin. I'll eat it when I'm done." With that, she left the room and entered the basement, closing the door behind her. Dumplin just sighed sadly before dialing the number. Not really knowing what to say, Puddin instead gave her dad a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before heading to her room to change into more comfortable clothes.

As she was making her way back into the living room, she found herself moving toward the bookshelf against the wall. She knew she had seen something in Towa's face, but she had to be sure. She floated to the top shelf, where the photo albums were kept and started running her finger over the titles. There was _Awesome Explosions,_ _Trunks' Fuck-Ups, Best Kills, Cute Puppies_ …

"Aha!" Puddin said to herself, pulling out the album labeled _Our Family_. She sat down on the couch and opened the book, flipping through the laminated pages. She needed to be sure she had seen what she thought she had seen. She skipped over pictures of the old Toki Toki City gardens decorated for the wedding, the pictures of the food layouts and floral arrangements, and pictures of all the deities who had come to celebrate. Finally, she reached the picture she was looking for and stared long and hard at it.

She remembered from when Dumplin had first showed it to her. It was presumably just after Dumplin and Towa had said their 'I dos' and kissed, as they were making their way down the aisle while many confused Time Patrollers were applauding them. Dumplin was wearing a technicolor tuxedo while Towa wore a black wedding dress that was much slinkier than a wedding dress probably had a right to be. Though they were making their way down the aisle, they still had their eyes locked on one another. Puddin was mostly focusing her attention on Towa's face. The demon scientist was sporting a wide, genuine, _overjoyed_ smile as she looked into Dumplin's eyes. There was no hint of the evil genius she had been when she and Dumplin had first met. This was the smile of someone who was truly happy at the idea of spending their life with someone they loved. It was the smile that Puddin had seen when she had walked in on Towa and Dumplin together. Puddin flipped further into the book, past the pictures of the couple relaxing on picnics and doing sciencey things together down in the labs, and a handful of times when Towa went on a mission with Dumplin. They looked so happy together.

"I don't understand," Puddin whispered to herself. "What changed, guys?"

When she got to pictures that included herself, the change became apparent.

Whenever Puddin was in a picture, Dumplin would have the biggest smile on his face while Towa just had a blank mask, if she was even in the pictures at all. She was only in a handful of pictures when Puddin was still a blob, and she had practically disappeared once Puddin became humanoid. There were still smiles from Towa, but only in pictures without Puddin in them, like when she and Dumplin went out on date night.

Outside of pictures, Puddin had never seen Towa give a smile like that one she had today.

As Puddin flipped back to the wedding photo and looked at her parents' happy faces, she felt a cold weight settle in her stomach. Her parents hardly ever acted like that anymore. Even after the trip in the Time Chamber, it was only a matter of days before Towa was back in the habit of spending her days locked in her laboratory. Over her entire existence, Puddin could still use her fingers and toes to count the number of times Towa had willingly taken time so the three of them could be together.

An idea came to her and she felt a pain in her chest. Puddin felt tears in the corners of her eyes.

 _Is… is it me? Did I ruin everything?_

"Want to watch a movie, Puddin?" Dumplin asked from the kitchen. "Queue something up on Space Netflix and we can have a little dinner party." Puddin hurriedly pawed at her eyes and replaced the photo album.

"A-alright, Dad," she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "How 'bout something with mindless explosions?"

"The bigger the better," he said. "Look for something made from Bichael May."

"Got it," Puddin said as she turned on the TV and looked through the options. She eventually settled on one of the more brainless _Transmorphers_ movies and tried to enjoy herself, but the thoughts from earlier still pressed down on her. She just silently sat on the couch and hugged her knees to her chest.

 _Did I ruin everything?_

* * *

Two weeks after tryouts, it was the night before the first game of the season. While Puddin was feeling confident in her abilities as a baseball player, she was still nervous about tomorrow. Therefore, she found herself pacing back and forth in the living room, running her fingers through her hair tendrils and drumming a constant beat against her skull. After her twelfth lap back and forth across the room, Dumplin looked up from his tablet and the game he was playing.

"Puddin, could you please sit down? You're making me nervous."

"I can't help it, Daddy," she almost whined. She was almost hyperventilating at this point. "The first game is tomorrow. If I mess up, I'm gonna let the whole team down. And if I let the team down, I'm gonna let Punohsa down. And if I let Punohsa down-"

"Puddin! Breathe!"

Puddin stopped and took a few breaths.

"Thanks, Daddy," she said. "Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me, Sweetheart," he said soothingly. He set his tablet aside and patted the couch seat next to him. Puddin plopped herself down and leaned against him. "It's alright, Puddin. You may not have faith in your skills right now, but we do. If you can't believe in yourself for that, then at least believe in us who believe in you. Okay?" Puddin took another calming breath and nodded. "That's my girl," he said, giving her a hug. "Want me to make you some honey tea?"

"Please," Puddin said with a nod. Dumplin got up and went into the kitchen. Puddin made herself more comfortable in the couch and found herself looking across the room where her mother sat. Towa had been sitting in one of the armchairs for almost an hour, scribbling page after page in one of her many journals and completely ignoring both of them. Puddin averted her eyes and stared at the carpet. Even after these many weeks, it was hard to look at her mom, or really either of her parents, and not think again about whether they'd both be happier together if she weren't there.

Before she could descend any further into the morose pit of depression she found herself in, Dumplin returned with a hot mug of tea. Puddin took it in hand and sipped from the delicious brew. Her father really did have a talent for making tea.

"Feel better?" he asked. Puddin nodded, making him smile. "Well then," he said with a clap of his hands, "what do you want to do tonight? Watch a movie? Read a book? Play some video games?"

"Video games sounds good," Puddin said with a smile. "We can do Silvereye, but no more Oddjob."

"But he's the best! And you're just upset I beat you that one time," Dumplin mock-complained.

"Because he's shorter than the crosshairs! Anyone who plays Oddjob is a cheater."

"Alright, alright, I won't play Oddjob," Dumplin said with a smile. He got up from the couch to move to the TV as Puddin took a sip from her mug. Before he could turn on the game system, however, his communicator beeped from where it was charging on the counter. Letting out a hiss through his teeth that sounded like a muffled curse word, Dumplin walked to the communicator and answered it.

"What?" he snapped. He waited for a few moments before his expression went slack. "You're joking. Now?! My daughter's game is tomorrow, for fucks sake!" He waited some more. "Seriously? _No one_ is available to take this?!" After a long pause, he sighed and rubbed his face. "Fine. I'll fucking come, just don't expect me to be happy about it. Tell Trunks to have a Senzu bean ready for me when I get there." He disconnected the call and gave a heavy sigh.

"You have to go on a mission, don't you," said Puddin. Dumplin nodded.

"Freeza and his forces found out how to grow the Tree of Might, so now I need to go fight a goddamn war while Trunks just dicks around and claims to be helping." He sighed again. "I should be back in about three days." Puddin felt her heart sink, and Dumplin could probably tell, based on his expression. "I am so sorry, Sweetheart. I'll be back as soon as I can, but… I can't make the game." Puddin nodded and forced a smile on her face.

"It's okay, Daddy. There will be other games. It's fine. Go save the world." Dumplin gave her a sorrowful look before giving a reluctant nod. He stepped forward and gave her a tight, loving hug.

"I love you, Sweetheart," he said quietly. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I know," she said. "I love you too, Daddy."

When their hug ended, Dumplin walked over where Towa was sitting and gently rubbed her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.

"I've got to go on a mission, babe. Should be back in a couple of days."

"Alright," Towa said, giving him a kiss. "Take care of yourself and make sure you have some fun." That actually made Dumplin snort out a laugh.

"Fat chance," he said. "These baby villains hardly ever give me a chance to have fun and cut loose." He shook his head and sighed. Then he leaned closer to Towa and whispered into her ear. It was quiet, but Puddin could still make it out. "Babe, do you think you could go see Puddin's game tomorrow? I know it would mean a lot to her." Towa tapped her pencil against the page of the journal a few times.

"If I'm not too busy," she said. Dumplin nodded after a pause.

"Alright. I love you," he said.

"Love you too, dear," said Towa.

"Love you, Daddy," said Puddin.

With a final wave, Dumplin walked out the door. Immediately, Towa was engrossed in her journal and the house once again became silent. Feeling like her heart was made of lead, Puddin stood and went to her room. She would need her rest for tomorrow. As she lay on her bed and held her plush dragon close, she willed herself not to cry.

"It's okay," she whispered to herself. "There will be more games. Dad can go see those ones. Besides, Mom said she's coming tomorrow. She'll see my game, and then we'll get to spend time together. Things will be good. They'll be fine.

 _If you believe that,_ said a little voice in the back of her head, _then you deserve the disappointment coming to you._

Puddin squeezed the dragon tighter and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

By the time it was finally Puddin's turn to be at bat, she was itching for the chance to channel some annoyance from what had been a very crappy day so far. It had started bad and stayed that way. She had been awake for most of the night due to nerves, she found out the milk was spoiled only after she had filled her cereal bowl, and of course her dear mother was nowhere to be found. She had spent ten minutes knocking on the door to get her mother's attention and had waited at the house for her as long as she was able to before she had to rush off to meet her team. When she was finally at the field, she had to deal with a surprisingly large number of hecklers and opposing fans. Since baseball was the only sport that the Time Patrol had an official league for, team bias apparently ran strong, especially in the winter.

As she and her teammates were warming up, they all had to deal with seemingly endless insults from the opposing team, the Frenzied Falcons. The worst of them was the Earthling pitcher, who spent half of his time shouting insults and the other half demanding sex from the girls on the Super Scrappers, with his buddies laughing and egging him on the whole time. All of this served only to make the smoldering pit of anger in Puddin's gut burn even hotter as time went on.

Not to mention the fact that her mother still hadn't come. Puddin had been looking over the crowd every few minutes since she had arrived. The stands were filling fast, but she could not find her mother. She had tried energy sensing, like Punohsa had taught her, but couldn't pick up her mother's energy signature. She hadn't come.

And then there was the crowd itself. What felt like hundreds of people were in the stands of the baseball field, watching the game with rapt attention. More specifically, they were currently watching _her_ , and Puddin could feel the oppressive weight of their gaze on her shoulders. It made a part of her want to run away and find a hole to hide in.

However, one person who she was glad to see was Paata. He and the rest of the Ravagers were playing on the field after this, so he was sitting in the stands and cheering her on for the duration of her own game. Seeing him there made Puddin think twice about blowing something up as a way to relieve the tension.

Just barely, though.

At the moment, Cupcake and a Saiyan named Basil were on first and second base. As Puddin took her position at home plate, she glared at the pitcher and shifted her grip of the bat slightly. So far, this human was pretty detestable in every way. He was tossing the ball up and down in the air and giving Puddin the kind of smile that should result in immediate imprisonment. He had a round face, green eyes, and an orange bandana tied around his head.

"Hey Sugar Tits," he drawled, making shivers climb up Puddin's spine, "how about you throw this game and I'll take you out on a date? I promise I can be quite the gentleman."

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you, man," the first baseman said. "That's the Demon Chick. She'd probably just try to eat you alive."

Puddin could feel the wood of the bat groaning in protest as her grip tightened.

"Hey, that's not a deal breaker," the pitcher said. "The wild ones are always my favorite."

"Shut your whore mouth!" Puddin heard Paata yell from the stands. "Just stick to wooing Saibamen!" The prompted a few laughs from the crowd and a death glare from the pitcher.

"You're gonna pay for that one, Paata!" he shouted.

The weird back-and-forth between Paata and the pitcher made Puddin lose her focus for a moment and relax her stance. That was her mistake. Before she could get herself ready again, the ball whizzed right past her head and slammed into the catcher's mitt.

"Strike one!" the umpire shouted. The Falcons' supporters all cheered while the pitcher just grinned at her.

"Want me to throw the next one a little slower, Toots?" he asked mockingly. Puddin growled and took a few practice swings.

"Just throw the goddamn ball," she snarled to herself. The pitcher wound up for another pitch and sent the ball flying. This time, Puddin's bat connected, but she swung too early. The ball went into the stands, but it also went flying over the foul line.

"Foul ball!" the umpire shouted, accompanied by shouts of disappointment from the spectators and a few jeers from the Falcons. The pitcher, however, was dead silent and just gave her a blazing death glare.

 _Must be mad that I managed to hit it that far,_ Puddin thought to herself as she tapped her bat against home plate.

"You won't get so lucky next time, demon," he said.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it," Puddin said back, getting back into a ready position. The two stared at each other for a long moment, almost as if the rest of the field had disappeared. He was looking for weakness and Puddin was lying in wait, ready to strike.

Finally, the pitcher hurled the ball. It sped toward her, leaving a blazing trail of ki behind it. Puddin grit her teeth and swung, pumping all of her anger and frustration into her swing. Her bat collided with the ball, but she found herself struggling to overcome the force of the pitch. The ball continued its spin, grinding into the wood of the bat, but unable to push past it. Puddin didn't even need to see the shit-eating grin on the pitcher's face to know it was there.

Puddin could feel all of the frustration that had been building up in her starting to boil over. First her dad needs to go on a mission, then her mother locked herself in the basement again, then there was this pitcher who had been acting like an asshole the whole game. She was done. She was completely…utterly… _DONE!_

"RrrrrRRRRAAAAHH!" she roared, putting her full power into the struggle. Finally, the stalemate ended.

With an ear-splitting CRACK, the ball was sent flying into the air as Puddin's bat snapped in two. The outfielders made to fly after the ball, but it disappeared out of the field to the north before they could make it more than a yard. Puddin could even see a Mach cone forming around the ball as it blew holes in every cloud that was in its path. As it sliced through a large cumulus cloud, Puddin felt her stomach drop.

 _Oh crap! It's heading right for the-_

Even from this distance, Puddin could hear the smack as it collided with the giant dragon.

" **OW! Motherfucker!** " the immense creature roared, holding one of its eyes. " **Why is it always the goddamn eye?!** " The dragon turned a baleful gaze toward the baseball field. " **Watch you're shooting those things! Christ!** "

The entire audience was dead silent. No one moved. No one even seemed to breathe. Puddin could feel the stares of the other players and the people in the audience, and she felt a cold shiver go through her body. She pulled the brim of her helmet down, trying to hide her darkening face.

"I'll… I'll just do my home run," she said quietly, beginning her flight around the bases. The other flyers on the bases hesitated for a few long moments, unknowingly letting her pass them before they snapped back to reality and completed their own flights back to home plate. Puddin completed her loop of the bases and took a seat on the bench with her hat pulled over her eyes. She tried very hard not to meet the gaze of any of her teammates or spectators. No sooner had she sat down when a pair of very familiar ninja sandals came into view.

"That was pretty incredible, Puddin," said Punohsa. Since the ground was not polite enough to split open and swallow Puddin right then and there, she timidly raised her eyes to look at her coach. In her peripheral vision, she could see her teammates scooting downward to give them some privacy.

"I'm sorry," Puddin muttered. Punohsa blinked.

"The hell are you apologizing for?" she said. "I was coming to ask if you can do that a few more times in this game."

"Really?" Puddin said in surprise. Punohsa smiled and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Kiddo, your strength is unbelievable. That was the most amazing hit I've seen in all my years in this Baseball League. You are a being of incredible power, so it's time to own it."

"But everyone was staring at me," Puddin said, looking back down at the ground. "It was like I'd done something wrong." Punohsa looked like she was about to say something before she stopped.

"Ah, I get it," she said. She took a seat next to Puddin and put an arm around her shoulder. "You've never been in front of this many people before, have you?" Puddin shook her head. "Thought so. You're still pretty young and you haven't regularly interacted with many people outside of your parents, Paata, Cupcake, and me."

"I guess so," Puddin said. Punohsa smiled.

"I understand why you felt like you might have done something wrong, given how everyone was staring at you. However, what you've done is absolutely amazing. It's an incredible gift, so you shouldn't feel like you need to hide from it, okay?" Puddin thought for a moment before she nodded. Punohsa's smile widened. "Plus, I really want to use that swing of yours to stomp these losers into the ground." Puddin laughed and nodded in agreement. "You good to go?"

"Ready and willing, Coach,"

"That's my girl." Punohsa gave Puddin a squeeze on her shoulder before standing up. "Looks like we're switching up. Ready to go out and win this thing?" Puddin smiled and grabbed her mitt.

"You bet."

And so the innings passed in a similar manner. When the Scrappers were at bat, Puddin would hit home runs almost every time. When on the field, she bounced and flew all around to try and catch every ball that came her way. The most satisfying parts of the entire game would be when she would catch flying at the last moment before they would become home runs. One time in the third inning, she caught the ball hit by the pitcher. His face turned the funniest shade of beet red as she smiled and waved at him. In the end, the Super Scrappers won the game fifteen to four, a fantastic start as Punohsa told them.

As Paata went off to warm up with his own team, Puddin made her way home, promising to get changed and be back to watch his game. As she was leaving, however, she suddenly found her path blocked. The Falcons' pitcher stood in her path with two of his teammates standing a short way off. His eyes spoke of nothing less than the wish to destroy the object of their attention. In this case, it was Puddin.

"Something I can help you with?" Puddin asked politely. Dumplin always told her to start out polite when addressing possible opponents. It confused them and put them off balance.

"You might have won the game, but I'm not done with you yet," he snarled. "You ruined my home run, bitch. You have to answer for that."

"I guess I did do that," Puddin said with a noncommittal shrug. "What of it?"

"Fight me. Right now."

Puddin just blinked and put her hands on her hips.

"You saw what I did on my first home run, right?" He looked surprised by the question, but nodded. "Good, then you need to ask yourself a very specific question: 'If she can do that to a ball, what is she likely to do to me?' Think about that before you do anything." The pitcher suddenly looked much less confident and took a few steps back. "That's what I thought." With that, Puddin brushed past him. She had made it ten paces away before he suddenly reclaimed his courage.

"This isn't over!" he shouted. "My name is Dailli and I declare you my vile nemesis! Mark my words, I _will_ defeat you!"

"Whatever," Puddin said, rolling her eyes.

After a few minutes of walking, Puddin entered her house and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. After scrubbing herself down, she put on a fuzzy set of clothes and moved to leave again, hoping she had some time before Paata's game to buy some peanuts, which she had heard were traditional baseball food. When she reached the living room, however, she was shocked to find that she wasn't alone.

Towa was sitting in the armchair she took whenever she was upstairs in the living room, reading a paperback book with a floral patterned cover in one hand and sipping from a cup of tea with her other. She appeared the very image of refinement and relaxation and it was really starting to freak Puddin out.

"Mom…" she said. "You're… here?"

Towa finally looked up, almost as if she hadn't noticed Puddin, but Puddin knew better.

"I finished a long experiment early this morning. Since the new batch of cells needs time to grow, I figured I might take the day to relax after a long string of experiments."

Puddin felt like the floor had been pulled out from under her, like she was in freefall but still standing still. A weight dropped into her stomach and she felt chills travel from her toes all the way up to the rest of her body. She could hear the sound of her heart thudding in her ears.

"Did you remember that my first baseball game was today?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"I do remember you and your father making some noise about that," Towa said, returning her gaze down to her book. Puddin's hands curled into fists.

"It was pretty cool," she said in a tight voice. "It would have been real nice if you could have come and seen me."

"I doubt that," Towa said, taking a sip of tea. "I find competitive sports to be positively wearisome."

"But…" Puddin was having a hard time putting her words together correctly. "But it was important to me, Mom." Towa glanced up again to meet Puddin's eyes.

"Puddin," Towa said slowly, as if she were lecturing a three-year-old, "I don't see how any of that is my concern."

Puddin felt something break.

"Why do you have to be like this?!" she snapped, causing Towa to start in surprise. "Every single time I talk to you, every single time you even see me, you act like you just saw the most grotesque thing in the world and immediately get as far away as you can from me. I thought things were better after the Time Chamber, but then… then you just go back to the way you've always been."

"Young lady," Towa said slowly, closing her book with almost predatory grace.

"No!" said Puddin, feeling tears in the corners of her eyes. "None of that stuff! I want to know why you hate me!" Towa just stared at her silently. "I mean," said Puddin, feeling her heart pound a mile a minute, "I've seen the pictures. You and Dad were so happy before, and now you've changed. I mean, I don't see how this can happen. I'm your daughter and-"

"You're wrong, Puddin," Towa said, interrupting her. "I don't hate you."

Puddin just stood frozen, not quite able to believe what she had just heard.

"W…what?"

The room was eerily silent. Slowly, Towa placed her teacup on the saucer and put down her book before calmly standing up.

"I do not hate you, Puddin, but I do not consider myself your mother." She brushed a tuft of hair over her pointed ear before affixing a blank expression on her face. Puddin scarcely dared to breathe. "On the night you were created," Towa continued, "I made a mistake. One, single, tiny mistake. Because of that, I found myself landed with you and my husband suddenly just expects me to happily play Parent with him. I had no interest in being a mother in any way, so you can imagine I'm not terribly thrilled when the man I love simply expects me to care about you." She stepped closer, staring at Puddin with cold eyes. "So no, Puddin. I did not change. Your father was the one who changed."

"But…" said Puddin, before she swallowed to moisten her dry throat. "But I don't understand. What about when we were in the Time Chamber? We were a family together. You…" She sniffled. "You looked like you were happy. _We_ were happy."

Towa averted her eyes and stepped past her.

"You would do well not to read too much into that, Puddin. Nothing good can come of it."

With that, she made her way down the hall and turned into the bathroom before closing the door. Shortly after, the sound of the faucet could be heard filling up the bathtub.

Puddin just stood in the center of the living room, frozen in place as tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. Biting her lip to stifle her sobs, she started making her way toward the door, pressing her palms into her eyes to stop the tears. She blindly grabbed her jacket from the coat rack before stumbling out the door and down the path heading toward the city.

She needed to find Paata.

* * *

Paata was leaving the baseball field after a very close victory. The first few innings, the Ravagers and their opponents, the Cavaliers, had been almost neck and neck. In the very last inning, his team had managed to squeezing in a three-point homerun and thereby secure the win.

Paata was glad for the win, but a bit confused as well. He knew that Puddin had gone home after her game with the promise to be back soon, but he hadn't seen her at the game, or even felt her presence.

 _What could have happened to her?_ he thought to himself.

As if summoned by his thoughts, he turned around only to come face to face with her. A happy greeting was halfway out of his mouth before he froze. Puddin had her arms wrapped tight across her chest, her hands holding fistfuls of the coat fabric, and there were tears dripping down her face.

"Puddin," he said quietly, "are you okay? What happened?" Puddin looked around them at the people still hanging around the field before staring down at the ground.

"Can… can we talk somewhere?"

"Um, yeah," Paata said with a hesitant nod. "I know a good place. Follow me."

* * *

"My god, Puddin. I'm… I'm so sorry that she said that to you."

"I just don't know what to do Paata," Puddin said in a brokenhearted tone, staring down at the bustle of the city below her. She brushed away a few lingering tears from her cheeks She had just finished relating to him all of the problems she and Dumplin had been having with Towa, Towa's unwillingness to fix any of them, and finally the 'talk' she had just had with Towa. The two friends were both sitting on the roof of one of the office buildings in Downtown Conton City. From next to her, Paata sighed and rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"I don't know, Puddin," he said. "Towa is, by nature, a difficult woman to deal with. Maybe your dad or Trunks knows what do?"

"Trunks? Are you kidding?" Puddin didn't roll her eyes so much as toss them upward. "He locks up if a girl so much as talks to him. How the hell is he gonna help solve this?" She sniffled. "And besides, if Daddy knew what to do about this, he would have already done it. He's more of the 'blow up planets' type instead of the 'building bridges' type."

"Maybe you can ask Punohsa? Or Chronoa?" Paata suggested. "They've probably got some good ideas for what to do."

"I guess it can't hurt," Puddin said, pushing herself off of the rooftop to float in the air. "C'mon. We can ask Punohsa first."

Paata nodded before he took to the air himself and the two of them drifted down to the ground. Their silence was broken by the sounds of laughter and jeering. There was a group of male Cadets sitting in the outside area of a restaurant, calling out encouragements to Paata and making loud wolf whistles. Paata just laughed and flipped them off as he and Puddin turned a corner and lost sight of them.

"Who were they?" Puddin asked.

"Just some of my friends at the academy," he said. "They're firmly under the impression that we're dating. Not the brightest lights in the city."

"Is the thought of dating me really that terrible?" Puddin asked with a grin.

"Well…um…" Paata started. "That's not what I meant. It's just hard to think of you that way. I still remember when you were that little grey blob girl I was watching cartoons with. You're like the little sister I always wanted. Dating you would just be… weird. Is that bad to say?"

Puddin laughed.

"Don't worry, Paata. It's not weird. We're good friends. Plus," she shrugged, "you're not really my type."

"Alright. Good to hear," he said. "So, how should we approach Punohsa about all this Towa business?" When he didn't receive an answer, he looked over and saw that Puddin was no longer next to him. Instead, she was standing in front of a shop window with her face plastered against the glass. The window was filled with Christmas trees and decorations and little Santa figurines. "Huh," he said. "I totally forgot it was almost Christmas." Puddin turned to him, looking confused.

"Paata… what's 'Christmas'?"

"It's a holiday in December. It's only a few days away now," he answered. "It's a time where people come together, exchange gifts, and eat delicious food. There's also a big focus on family-togetherness and peace through the cosmos and goodwill toward sentients and all that jazz."

"Family-togetherness?" she asked, her eyes practically sparkling. Paata nodded before she turned her wide eyes back to the window display. "That's it…" she said.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Puddin grabbed Paata by the shoulders and started shaking him vigorously

"That's it, Paata!" she yelled. "This is exactly what I need! Nyaa~! Thank you, Paata! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She seized him in a tight hug before dropping him on the sidewalk and soaring into the air. "I need to find out everything about Christmas!" In moments she was gone, leaving a very confused and shaken Paata.

"Um… glad I could help?" he said to the empty air.

He had realized a long time ago that it took a certain amount of both inner strength and mental acrobatics to keep pace with Puddin. One of these days, he really needed to introduce her to some new people. It was becoming really hard keeping track of her all by himself.

With a shrug, he began making his way back home.


	8. And When It All Fell Apart

**AN: Hello and welcome to The Adventures of Puddin. I am so sorry how long this chapter took. Grad school has been kicking my butt lately. Alas, this might possibly be the last chapter you see from me for a bit. I'm gonna try to get a chapter out for RWBYS: Blood is Thicker (my other story) and then I'm taking a little break from these to do NaNoWriMo. Do not despair! I love this story very much, so I will be back. With that in mind, I hope you guys enjoy the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – And When It All Fell Apart**

 **Christmas Eve**

Puddin could barely contain herself. Tomorrow was the day. Christmas was so close she could almost taste it. She had events all planned out, presents were wrapped and hidden, the tree was ready to be set up in a minute's notice, and the dinner menu was all planned out. Dumplin had gotten back from his mission, but Puddin had been careful to keep her plans quiet so she could surprise him. She had absolutely everything ready to go.

All with the exception of one thing.

Towa was again sitting on the couch, reading a book while sipping tea. Puddin had been standing in the hallway for almost a minute, trying to work up the courage to actually talk to her. The words she had spoken still rang in Puddin's earholes, and the pain they brought was still fresh and sharp. It had become hard to even look at Towa since their last 'talk', and Puddin was not even sure she could go through with this, but the fact remained that she _needed_ to go through with this if there was ever going to be the chance of them being a family. If it worked in the Time Chamber, maybe it could work again.

Finally, Puddin squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and walked into the room.

"Hey Mo-… Hey Towa," she said. Towa glanced in her direction before looking back at her book.

"Hello Puddin," she said. "I was wondering if you were actually going to try and talk to me or just stand in the hallway all day." Puddin winced.

"Right," she muttered, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Um… you know what tomorrow is, right? Christmas?"

"I… suppose so," she said, looking up at Puddin curiously. "What of it? The day has not been of particular importance before."

"Well, I was really hoping that we could all spend the day together," Puddin said, shifting anxiously. She realized her mistake immediately and struggled to recover. "Y'know, just maybe so you could spend it with Dad or something. I-I could leave you two alone, y'know."

Towa just arched an eyebrow. Puddin felt a roiling in her stomach.

"What I really want to ask is…" She took a breath and started again. "What I really wanted to ask was if you could spend the whole day with us instead of going down into your lab."

At that, Towa closed her book and focused all of her attention on Puddin. Her spine was straight as a pole and her face showed nothing but irritation. Puddin felt her heart drop into the floor.

"I can't do that, Puddin," she said firmly. "My experiments are both important and time-sensitive. I'm not able to just ignore them for an entire day."

Puddin flinched, but pressed onward.

"Then maybe just part of a day?" she asked. "Maybe at lunchtime, you could come up and spend the rest of the day with us? I know that Dad would love to spend some time with you." At a blank look from Towa, Puddin winced. She'd asked directly, tried bargaining for part of a day, and mentioned Dumplin, but nothing was budging Towa. With a swallow to moisten her throat, Puddin straightened up and played one of the last cards she had. "If you spend Christmas with us, I… I promise I won't bother you for the next year. I mean, I just want to spend some time with all of us together."

Towa glanced down and stroked her chin thoughtfully, but still looked doubtful.

"I'm not sure," she said. When she looked up, however, she found herself struck by the full force of the Puddin Pout. She couldn't look away from Puddin's trembling lip and shining eyes, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Please, Towa?" she said. "PleasepleasepleasepleasePLEEEEEEEASE…."

"Stop that…" Towa said weakly. Her will was crumbling.

" _Pleeeeeeease…_ " Puddin whined. Towa snarled as she slammed her book down on the table next to her armchair. The table groaned in protest, but remained standing.

"Fine! If this Christmas is so gods damned important to you and Dumplin, I'll come." Puddin flinched from the outburst, but there was a flutter of hope in her chest.

"Thank you, Mo-… uh, Towa. I promise that you'll enjoy yourself."

"We'll see about that," Towa said with a huff. Then she opened her book again and continued her reading. Puddin could tell she had been dismissed, so she left the room.

She had to struggle to keep the smile off of her face, but the elation was tinged with worry.

 _Please let this work._

* * *

 **The Next Morning** **– 5:00 AM**

Puddin was setting up the house as quietly as she could manage. After dressing up in an appropriately hideous Christmas sweater and pajama bottoms, she was hard at work. She had brought the tree in and haphazardly hung a bunch of ornaments on it. She had also hung red and green streamers all across the ceiling and arranged presents under the tree. Originally there had only been a present for each of her parents, but when Puddin awoke, she found three extra presents that hadn't been there before.

 _Must be that Santa person_ , she had thought to herself as she hung stockings close to the fireplace.

She was just fussing with the tree lights for the third time when she heard the sound of her parents' bedroom door opening. Dumplin blearily waddled into the room, his mouth open in a yawn so wide it seemed to take up his entire face. He rubbed his eyes before looking over the room and freezing. He rubbed his eyes again and looked around before his eyes landed on Puddin.

"Merry Christmas!" she said happily, dashing over to pick him up in a hug. He returned it enthusiastically.

"Merry Christmas, Sweetie," he said. He took a longer look around when their hug had ended, his face clearly showing he was impressed. "This is amazing, Puddin. I was just thinking we would need to have a low-key celebration, but this is fantastic."

"Hope you're in the mood for pancakes," said Puddin, bouncing over to where she had laid out all of the ingredients. "I'll get started on the batter if you cook the bacon."

"Deal," he said with a grin as they both got to work.

Puddin was just ladling some pancake batter onto a hot skillet when she looked at her father curiously.

"Hey Daddy," she said, "is Mom up?" He let out a sad sigh.

"She was gone when I got up," he responded. "She must have gotten up early to do work in the lab. Like always."

"I thought so," Puddin said. "Don't worry though. I talked to her yesterday and she promised she would come out to spend time with us at noon."

Dumplin hesitated for a moment before he gave her a smile that desperately wanted to be hopeful.

"What do we have planned for the day?" he asked, awkwardly changing the subject. Puddin didn't think too much about her father's misgivigings. She was too excited.

"Well," she said, "we've got presents to open, but I want us to all be together for that. Your present, however, ties directly into one of our activities, so I know you'll enjoy that. Then I'm thinking cookie decorating, roasting chestnuts, maybe we'll fly around singing carols, I think there's a presentation of The Nutcracker Wars on multiverse cable tonight, then we can have a snowball fight and make snow demons, then we'll watch _It's A Wonderful Life_ on Space Netflix." She shrugged. "Y'know, basic stuff."

"So we'll do basically everything Christmas, huh?" Dumplin asked with grin. Puddin giggled and nodded. He laughed. "Sounds great. Can you open up the stove for me? Got a tray of bacon that needs cooking."

After breakfast was cooked, Puddin and Dumplin sat down to a feast of golden pancakes and thick crispy bacon. Puddin filled her plate, drowned everything in syrup, and crunched on a piece of bacon.

"So Daddy, how was your mission?" she asked.

"Oi," he said, resting his cheek against his arm. "Had to keep Freeza from blowing up planet Earth again. Then had to hold Vegito's hand while he fought Buu. Then I finished things off with saving Gohan's butt in the Cell Games because the twerp tripped on a rock during that incredibly drawn out beam duel."

"More of the same, then?" she asked.

"Gods damn it, _yes_ ," he said around a bite of pancakes. "When you start missions for the Time Patrol, you think you're gonna see weird and messed up things, things that could change the entire universe if they happened. Heck, maybe some things from the Non-Canon timelines. Unfortunately, that's not the case." He speared another piece of pancake with a bit more ferocity than was required. "It's always the same damn shit with the same damn idiots. Every stinking time I go out."

"You still kicked ass and looked damn good doing it, right Daddy?"

"Oh, hell yeah I did." The Demon God grinned at her, and she smiled back.

"Good to hear. Hot chocolate?"

"Please and thank you."

Time passed for the demon demigoddess and her father. For hours, they just spent time together, talking about Dumplin's missions and about fun things they wanted to do. At Puddin's insistence, they roasted some chestnuts in the fireplace. In hindsight, Puddin decided they didn't taste nearly as good as she had been lead to believe. All through this conversation with her dad, Puddin would keep glancing at the clock.

11:32

It was getting close. When her mom came out, Christmas could really start. She could barely contain her excitement.

12:00

Towa was going to walk out of the door any second! Puddin was so excited! The anticipation was killing her.

12:42

Puddin was starting to feel a little worried, but was trying to stay optimistic. Maybe her mom was just finishing something up.

1:34

Puddin's eyes were flitting from the clock to the closed basement door and back again. She looked at her dad, but he didn't say anything.

2:03

 _No. This isn't how things were supposed to go. It was supposed to be with the three of us together. It was supposed to be_ perfect _!_

Puddin was out of her seat and across the room in moments, lifting a clenched fist to smash that door down if she had to. Her fist was an inch away from wooden surface before she stopped and took a breath. After centering herself, she gave the door a polite knock.

"Mom?" she called, loud enough that she was sure the occupant should be able to hear. "Mom, it's past noon. Are you coming out?" There was only silence. Puddin pounded harder on the door. "Mom! I know you're down there." No sound came up. "Mom!" Puddin shouted, feeling prickling behind her eyes. "You promised me! You promised!" Her fist slammed on the door over and over, but still, no sound came from the basement. No matter how strong her blows were, the door did not seem to show any sign of damage. Puddin gave the door one last hard hit before she leaned her forehead against the wood, trying not to cry. "She promised," she whispered. "She promised." A strong, yet trembling hand took hold of her shoulder and she turned to look at her father. His face was blank, but the twitches his mouth told a story.

"I am so sorry, Puddin," he said. His voice came out strained. "You mother is… is…" He couldn't finish his statement and just let out a hiss of air. "It's alright, though."

"We were supposed to have Christmas together," Puddin said.

"And you and I will," Dumplin answered, rubbing her back in a manner that wanted to be comforting. "This doesn't need to ruin things for you, Puddin." He smiled at her, but it was an uncertain smile, the kind that didn't reach his eyes and trembled at the edges.

"We were supposed to be together," she sniffled. "We were supposed to be a family."

Dumplin looked like he was about to say something, but he hesitated. After a moment, he pulled Puddin to her feet and gave her a hug.

"Come on, Sweetie. Let's… Let's do something fun together. What were you planning next?"

"Well," sniffed Puddin, rubbing at her eyes, "what I planned first was in relation to your gift. Since…" she trailed off, staring sadly at the floor. "Since Mom's not here, I guess we should go ahead." Dragging her feet behind her, she made her way to the tree, where she retrieved a wrapped cylindrical object and an envelope before handing them over to Dumplin. They both sat down on the couch as he carefully opened the envelope and took out the Christmas card. To his surprise, the card began playing music the moment he opened it.

 _~Do you want to kill a planet?_

 _~Come on let's go today!_

 _~We never kill things anymore, no blood no gore._

 _~We'll blow them all away!_

The card only said 'Open the package. Merry Christmas. XOXO'. Now looking very curious, Dumplin tore the wrapping paper off of the package to reveal, to his shock, a Time Scroll. He stared at it for a long moment before giving Puddin a flat look.

"Would this," he gestured with the scroll, "imply that you've been sneaking into the Time Nest?" Puddin let loose one last sniffle and rubbed at her face before she straightened herself up and smiled at Dumplin, seeming like her normal self again.

"My dear father," Puddin said in a prim voice, "I am shocked – _shocked!_ – that you would think such a thing about me." They had a staring contest for a few seconds before they both chuckled.

"That's my girl," Dumplin said with a grin. "What does this Scroll lead to?"

"Well, it leads to a planet right before it explodes," Puddin said. "I remember you complaining a bit ago that you don't get many opportunities to cut loose. I also found out that Christmas is on the same date as another holiday called Freeza Day, which people celebrate by blowing up planets. So, I did a little digging and found this one planet that blows up from instability in the planet core. It's called Kripeton or something like that. Place where sciences and genetics are almost fetishized. That Scroll will take us to the moment thirty-five seconds before the planet completely blows up. I was thinking you might want us to blast the place ourselves." She shrugged. "Y'know, for fun."

"Sweetie," Dumplin said, the smile on his face growing bigger and bigger, "this is the best Christmas, or Freeza Day, gift I've ever gotten." He gave her a tight, loving hug which she was only too happy to return. "Well," he said, "shall we get going?"

"You bet," Puddin answered.

With that, they both laid their hands on the scroll before a flash of light caused their living room to melt away. When the world righted itself, they were floating dozens of feet in the air, staring at the buildings of a large, futuristic city. Puddin almost fell to the ground before she remembered her ability to fly, managing to keep level with her dad as they both looked around.

The city surrounding them was a bit of an eyesore. The sunlight coming through the black clouds gave off a light that honestly looked like the color of urine. The people below all wore skintight jumpsuits and capes, all emblazoned with a pentagon insignia filled with weird and unique squiggles. There was very little greenery to be seen around them, with the surrounding surfaces being made predominantly of metal and concrete. One aspect that actually made Puddin giggle was that every building surrounding them looked distinctly phallic, like hundreds of metal penises jutting into the air. She didn't think overcompensation could exist on a species-wide scale, but apparently it did. Oh well. It wasn't going to matter for much longer anyway.

The people in the city square below began shouting to one another and pointing upward at the two time travelers. Someone was calling for the police while others looked like they were taking pictures. Puddin turned to her father with a smile.

"You wanna take this?"

"Why thank you, Sweetie," he said, turning downward to the populace. As he was opening his mouth, Puddin suddenly waved a hand to stop him.

"Wait, Daddy!" she said. When he turned to look at her, she placed a pair of thick sunglasses on his face before putting another pair on hers. "Ready now," she said, giving him a thumbs up. He turned back to the people below.

"Attention, inhabitants of Kripeton!" he shouted.

"Um," said a voice from the throng, "it's actually pronounced Krypt-"

"Shut your face!" Dumplin snapped. The voice went silent. "Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, we are to inform you that all of you will meet your god." There were murmurs of confusion from below them.

"That sounds cool," someone said.

"Because we're sending you all to see him!" said Dumplin. He paused a moment. "Or her. I don't judge. Anyway…" He held his hand out toward the planet surface with Puddin mirroring his movement. "THIS IS GOD'S JUDGMENT, MOTHERFUCKERS! _BIG BANG ATTACK!_ "

" _Big Bang Attack!_ " Puddin shouted alongside her father.

Two bright blue energy balls, with one looking a little lumpier than the other, flew from the palms of their hands and impacted the planet's surface, burning their way through the city streets and into the mantle of the planet. They reached the planet core within moments, detonating on contact with the already unstable core. The core, finally unable to contain itself, exploded outward with incredible force. The shockwave traveled up to the surface of the planet in less than an eye blink. The surface of the planet cracked and split before a fiery explosion burst forth, breaking each piece of the planet into countless smaller pieces and flinging them out to the far reaches of the cosmos as a blinding explosion took place.

Dumplin and Puddin watched all of this with smiles on their faces as the fires of destruction raged around them. They barely felt the heat of the blast and the shockwave only shook them a little as they hung in place. The blinding light of the explosion was stifled by the sunglasses they wore.

Eventually, the light of the explosion died down and Dumplin and Puddin were left floating in the emptiness of space. The spot where Kripeton had been was now occupied by a brand new asteroid field. Dumplin took off his sunglasses and let out a long sigh.

"Oooooh yeahhhh," he said. "That was just what I needed, Puddin."

"Nyah~! Glad you liked it, Daddy," Puddin said happily, also taking off her sunglasses. "Wanna head back? We can see about that snowball fight and caroling."

"Sounds good," he said. Holding the scroll out to her, she placed her hand onto it and they both vanished in a flash.

When they reappeared again in their living room, Puddin saw that the world outside their house was much darker than when they had left it. She looked out the window and let out a sorrowful moan.

" _What_?" she cried. "Oh, come on!" Conton City was apparently in the middle of a huge rainstorm. "I heard it was supposed to be a _snow_ storm, not a _rain_ storm! Who the hell made it rain on Christmas?! Grrr!"

"Must have been a mix up at the Weather Office," Dumplin said, rubbing small circles on Puddin's back. "It's alright, Puddin. I know you planned to do more things outside, but I'm honestly having a great day so far."

"But nothing's going right today," she whined. "I had everything planned, but now…"

"We're still here, Puddin, and I am having the best Christmas I've ever had." He smiled before floating up to kiss her forehead. "Now, what should we do next?"

Puddin sighed again before she gave a small nod. Suddenly, her expression brightened again.

"Maybe I can go get a scroll that will take us to ice age or something," she said in excitement. "Then we can have the snowball fight to end all snowball fights."

Dumplin laughed, but shook his head.

"You've already stolen one Scroll from the Time Nest. I don't think you should be pushing your luck to grab another one." He smiled comfortingly as Puddin deflated.

"Okay, Daddy," she said. She then gave him a smile. "Wanna make gingerbread tentacle monsters instead?"

"Lead the way," he said with another laugh.

* * *

Puddin and her father spent many hours indulging in Christmas cheer. They made cookie monsters, decorated them, and then fought mock wars with them, with the casualties being sacrificed to sate the hungers of the Dread God Puddinostros and The Dump, Eater of Planets. Dumplin brought out a gift for Puddin, which was revealed to be a plush Lanturn from that monster show Puddin liked. She was pleased to find out that it was very nice to hug and cuddle. After that, the two of them watched some Christmas classics on Space Netflix. After a few back to back movies (not to mention the two of them having to spend half an hour crying after seeing _It's A Wonderful Life_ ), Puddin announced that it was time to get dinner ready. She had made the preparations the day prior, and now everything just needed to be cooked. Soon, the two of them were sitting at a table laden with succulent ham, seasoned turkey, fresh-baked rolls, steaming mashed red potatoes and gravy, and the obligatory salad. They both were filling their plates as Dumplin was finishing a story.

"So," he said, "I show up at Bulma's birthday party, and I see that Beerus is just about to eat a spoonful of pudding. Then, and I'm being completely serious here, Demigra possesses a _ball_ to fly through the air and knock the pudding out of Beerus' hands. The guy gets so pissed that he immediately declares vengeance on the entire planet and tries to destroy everything."

"Over _pudding_?!" Puddin said incredulously. As Dumplin nodded, she collapsed over the table, shaking with helpless laughter. The sight of this was too much for Dumplin and he too began laughing.

Their laughter was silenced by the sound of the basement door opening. Dumplin and Puddin turned to see Towa emerging from her laboratory, stretching her arms over her head.

"I hope the food is on," she said, "because I am absolutely starving."

The room temperature noticeably dropped as Dumplin narrowed his eyes at Towa.

"And where have _you_ been all day?" he said with a tight voice. Puddin knew that voice. It was the one he used when he was really mad. Towa, however, didn't seem to notice as she started rubbing some kinks out of her neck.

"Down in the lab," she answered, as if it were obvious. "I was monitoring the reproduction on a new batch of cells. Truly fascinating." Puddin could see the way her dad's hands were tightening into fists. This was not good.

"Why don't you sit down with us," Puddin said with a forced smile on her face. "We've got a big meal to eat. It is Christmas after all."

"Oh yes," Towa said, looking around the house at all of the decorations. "I suppose the two of you would find that important."

"You'd probably find it important too if you ever acted like a part of this family," Dumplin growled.

 _Oh no_ , thought Puddin.

Towa froze for a moment before matching Dumplin's glare. Her face was still a mask of cold indifference, but there were hints of anger in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm all the way over here. _What_ did you say?"

"I said you're more of a house guest than a family member at this point, Towa," Dumplin responded, clearly not backing down.

"Hey, um, guys," Puddin said, trying to sound calm even though she could feel herself starting to sweat. "Let's just hold on for a second. We're together now, it's Christmas, and we've got all this food here. Let's just relax and spend some time together, okay?"

Based on the expressions of both of her parents, they either didn't hear her or didn't care.

"Well," said Towa, "I _deeply apologize_ for the fact that I am making scientific leaps that no one in your precious Time Patrol would even imagine if they had a thousand years." Her cold exterior was cracking, revealing the rage bubbling underneath.

"Puddin said you promised you'd be with us today," Dumplin said.

"Yes, I did promise that," Towa snapped back, her eyes burning. "Then I realized that there was no reason for me to change myself if the two of you were running around up here being insane. This has nothing to do with me."

"It _does_ have something to do with you!" he snapped, slamming his hands on the table. Every plate jumped nearly a foot in the air before coming back down in a cacophony of clattering ceramics. "I can't believe that you would refuse to be a part of your daughter's life!"

"She is _not_ my daughter!" snarled Towa. "I never wanted a child to begin with, Dumplin. That didn't change when my miscalculation made one appear out of thin air! We don't even know how stable she is, or if she'll even last! For fuck's sake, she's part _cat!_ You claim she's your pride and joy when she's nothing more than a glorified _house pet!_ "

Puddin felt the words stab into her chest like knives. She couldn't move. Her lungs forgot how to work. Tears fell from her eyes as she struggled to remember how to breathe.

"W…what?" she whispered.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Dumplin roared, shooting up out of his seat to float nose-to-nose with Towa. "You take that back right this instant!"

"Don't blame me for only speaking the facts, _dear_ ," Towa said severely. "She's made from dead flesh and demon magic. No matter how much you try to tell yourself otherwise, she is _not_ a true child."

"I don't care what you say! She's our daughter and nothing is going to change that."

"And here we are at the beginning again," Towa snarled as she rolled her eyes. "It's like arguing with a water wheel."

Tears continued to fall from Puddin's eyes as she quietly pushed her chair out. Keeping her head down, Puddin slunk away from the table as Dumplin and Towa started to shout louder and louder. She didn't want to hear this. She didn't like it when her parents fought. The first few times it had happened, she had hidden in her room and pulled the pillow over her ears, but her hearing had just gotten better the more powerful she became. She could hear their shouts through the walls and through her pillow now. Going outside was out of the question. It was still raining cats and dogs. She could already hear her parent's voices rising to a fever pitch and her fingers started shaking anxiously. She needed to find a place to hide, and fast.

Then her eyes spied the door leading down to the basement standing ajar. She squeezed through the gap and started descending the stairs before her brain could even consider the possibility that this might be a bad idea. As she moved down the stairs, the shouts from the dining room became quiet murmurs to her. Towa must have made some sort of soundproof charm for the room.

The lights were still on down in the basement and she looked over all of her mother's experiments as she wiped away her tears. There were bubbling flasks, test tubes filled with multi-colored liquids, and more books than she could possibly count.

 _This is where I was born_ , said an errant thought as it flittered through her mind. The place had been cleaned since then, however, and she could see no trace of the mystic circle that had given her life.

 _You were an accident,_ said a voice in her head that sounded a great deal like Towa. _A single mistake from me and I'm now stuck with you_. _You're nothing but a glorified house pet!_

A new wave of tears fell from Puddin's eyes as she curled into a ball on the floor. She lay there for a long time, quietly sobbing.

"All I wanted…" she sniffled to herself. "All I wanted… was for us to be a family again. To… to have Christmas together." She sobbed and rubbed her eyes. "This is all my fault. If I wasn't here… they'd still be happy and… and…" Her words died as she continued to cry.

 _"Towa? What's wrong?_ " said a deep, masculine voice. _"Are you alright?"_

Puddin's head snapped up and her eyes darted around the room, searching for who could have spoken to her. She had been certain she was alone in this room, and the voice was one she had never heard before. A hint of movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention, and she focused on it.

Resting on a cloth that was marked with dozens of arcane symbols, there was a palm-sized lump of pink flesh that seemed to have tiny yellow tendrils wriggling around. It was also pulsating at regular intervals, almost like a heart. For a reason she could not explain, Puddin found herself drawn to this curious object. She climbed to her feet and took slow, hesitant steps toward it until she was right next to the table and staring down at it. It started to beat faster.

 _"Towa?"_ the voice said again. _"Is that you? You feel so different."_

Puddin stood there staring with an open mouth.

That thing had just talked.

 _That thing had just talked!_

" _Towa? Is something wrong?_ " said the lump.

Puddin responded in the only way she was able.

"AAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, falling backward on her butt and scrambling away from the talking lump.

 _"OW! My audio receptors!"_ the lump said. That just made Puddin scream louder.

As her second scream ran out of air, she heard pounding footsteps running across the room above before the door at the top of the stairs was flung open with a bang.

"Puddin?!" she heard her father shout frantically. "Are you down here?!"

"I…I…" was all she could say, but it was enough. Her father came running down, taking the stairs two at a time. Before she knew it, he was kneeling down next to her and holding her by the shoulders. Towa was coming down the stairs at a more sedate pace, glaring at the both of them with disdain.

"Puddin? Are you okay?" Dumplin asked, checking her over for injuries.

"And please explain what you're doing in my laboratory," Towa said icily. "I _eagerly_ await your response, and if you have touched anything I will make sure you regret it."

"That… that thing just talked," she said, pointing a trembling hand at the pulsating lump. Dumplin and Towa both turned to look at it and there was a moment where everything was still.

Towa was across the room in a flash. She balled up the cloth and the lump together, tossed it into an open drawer in the table, and slammed it closed before leaning on the table and crossing her arms, attempting to look nonchalant. Dumplin didn't buy it for a moment.

"Towa," Dumplin said dangerously, "what was that?"

"Nothing important," Towa said, not meeting his eyes.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Towa!" Dumplin shouted. "I saw it! I _felt_ it! You expect me to just ignore the fact that fucking _Mira_ is in my house?!"

Puddin found herself scooting a few feet away from her father. She had never seen him so mad before.

 _Mira?_ she thought. _That thing was Mira?_

"Why is he here, Towa? _WHY?!_ " Dumplin demanded.

Towa just stiffened her posture and did not answer. Dumplin looked like he was about to shout again before his expression went slack.

"You haven't stopped, have you?" he said in a voice barely above a whisper. "You're _still_ trying to merge the mortal and demon realms." Towa, again, said nothing, leaving Dumplin to stare down at the floor in shock. "You said you were done with all of that, Towa. You said you wanted to settle down." Puddin could see her father's shoulders shaking. "You _promised_ me that-"

"What do you want me to say?!" Towa snapped. "This is about my people! _Your_ people, if you are so arrogant to call yourself the Demon God! The mortals had their chance. _We_ would make things better. We can work together. Please, Dumplin. I need your help. You… You can forge the perfect world for Puddin to grow up in and-"

"WHEN THE _FUCK_ DID YOU START CARING ABOUT PUDDIN?!" Dumplin roared, making the walls shake. Towa closed her mouth with an audible click as Puddin let out a small squeak and moved away from her father. Dumplin seethed where he stood. "How dare you say that?!" he snarled, but his volume had slightly lessened. "After all those horrible things you said about Puddin, don't you even _try_ to tell me any of this could be for her benefit!"

"Dumplin…" Towa said, " _listen_ to me. This is the right thing to do. It's the onl-"

"Stop," Dumplin said, glaring hard at her. "Just… just stop" He stood there panting for a long moment before his eyes fell to the ground again. "If you won't stop all of this and let Puddin be a part of your life… then I won't let you be a part of mine."

Towa blinked in surprise.

"What are you saying?" she asked quietly.

There was a long and tense silence before Dumplin spoke again.

"Get out," he whispered. Towa looked shocked.

"Dumplin, you-"

" _Get out!_ " he shouted, still not raising his eyes.

There was a moment when Towa and Dumplin just stood there, frozen. Towa looked like she was about to say something before she straightened her posture and her face became like stone. She snapped her fingers. A suitcase suddenly appeared in her hand before she opened it and held it out in front of her. As Puddin looked on, every single item in the laboratory rose up and flew toward Towa before shrinking and falling into the suitcase. Even the tables and the door to the Time Chamber were taken away. When the room was entirely bare, Towa snapped the suitcase shut, made a staff appear out of nowhere, and climbed the stairs. Dumplin stood frozen in the middle of the room, not even daring to look up. Not another word was spoken between them.

At first, Puddin had watched this exchange with a sense of detachment, unable to fully comprehend what she was seeing, but the sight of her mother ascending the stairs with suitcase in hand finally spurred her to action.

"Mom! Wait!" she called, scrambling to her feet and running up the stairs. Her movement finally brought her father out of his stupor.

"Puddin, no!" he said as Puddin climbed the stairs, but she didn't listen. By the time she reached the landing, Towa was already halfway out the door.

"Mom! No! Don't leave!"

She ran after Towa as the woman walked outside the house into the rain. Puddin hesitated at the entranceway for only a moment before swallowing her fear and running out into the downpour.

"Puddin, come back here!" she heard from behind her. She kept going.

"Mom! Please!"

Towa gave only the barest glance over her shoulder before she continued walking. Puddin ran down the path, reaching out to grab her mother's arm. If she could stop her, they could talk about this. They could all sit down and work this out and then they could all be a family. Just like they always should have been.

"Mom!" Puddin said, managing to get close enough to grab Towa by the arm. Before Puddin could say another word, the world fell away. It was like she was in freefall, but was somehow also standing still. Something like wind pulled at her, but she kept her hold on Towa's arm.

After another heartbeat, the motion suddenly ceased and Puddin found herself on solid ground. She stumbled slightly, losing her grip on Towa's arm in her attempt to get her balance back. When she looked up, Towa was staring at her with an almost scandalized expression.

They were no longer in Conton City. It looked like a city on some version of Earth, except that it was entirely ruins. The sky above was dark and cloudy, with a moaning wind blowing across the broken terrain.

"Mom…" Puddin said through her dry throat, reaching toward Towa again. "Can we just talk a bit about-"

SMACK!

Reflex kicked in and Puddin jumped back a step, one hand pressed against her lightly stinging cheek. She blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend what just happened. Towa was glaring at her, holding her hand close to her chest as if it stung.

"Don't ever touch me," she said, her voice hard as flint.

Before Puddin could say another word, Towa vanished.

Puddin didn't know how long she stood there. She was frozen, the last sight of her mother burned into her mind.

"Mom?" she weakly asked, her voice almost lost in the sound of the wind. "Mommy?"

No answer came.

Then, like a puppet with its strings severed, she collapsed to her knees, pressed her palms into the dirt, and sobbed. Big fat drops fell from her eyes as she bit her lip, trying to stifle the sounds she was making. Her body shook from head to toe, almost as if she were heaving. She was barely aware of anything at all. The only thing she could hear was the echoes of Towa's words ringing over and over again in her ears.

"Come back…" Puddin said to the wasteland. "Please… come back…"


	9. Picking Up the Pieces

**AN: Hello everyone! I am so so so so so so so so SOOOO sorry for how long this took. It took so many drafts before I was happy with this chapter and I started a new story over the winter break so that carved into my time as well. I took part in NaNoWriMo (definitely a story I don't feel like revisiting anytime soon) and I'm back to Puddin! I hope to start a more regular update schedule.**

 **As always, many thanks to my lovely beta annbe11, who is writing a really great Tiger's Curse fanfic (which I beta for) called _Tiger's Circus_. If there are any Tiger's Curse fans here, I highly recommend you give it a look.**

 **With that said, on with the show!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Picking Up the Pieces**

"Just my luck I get the Christmas graveyard shift," Punohsa sighed as she trudged up the stairs of the Time Nest, already praying to any god in existence for a drink.

Her friends had originally invited her to a late-night Christmas party, but she had apparently drawn the short straw of life and gotten Scroll Monitor duty for tonight. Now, instead of enjoying margaritas and spending time with her friends, she would only have the Time Scrolls to keep her company. Even the sight of the tree above the Time Nest, decked out with Christmas lights and ornaments, wasn't enough to lift her spirits.

"Why can't we just let the cadets do this?" she grumbled. "They're the bottom of the pecking order. They should be exposed to the lamest part of the job early. But _noooooo_ , we gotta have some of our best and brightest Patrollers and teachers waste their valuable time just watching the Time Scrolls gather dust whenever Chronoa goes off to have a tea party or something." She shook her head again as she reached the top of the stairs. "There had better still be some leftover margaritas when I get-" She froze and tensed. "Wait, why is Evelyn on the ground?"

Punohsa stared down at the motionless Namekian who she was supposed to relieve. Instead of manning his post, he was sprawled across the entryway of the Time Nest. She could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, not to mention the large welt on the side of his head, so she didn't worry about him too much as she stepped over him. She was much more focused on the sounds of movement coming from inside the Time Nest. Calling a small energy ball into her palm, she crept through the entranceway and into the Time Nest.

The room was an absolute mess. Dozens of discarded Time Scrolls were scattered across the table, not to mention what looked like a hundred Scrolls lying all over the floor. Punohsa was just raising her hand to her scouter to call this in when she saw the culprit in all of his neon-colored glory.

"Dumplin?" she said in surprise, allowing her energy blast to dissipate. The Demon God jumped in surprise when she spoke, dropping the armload of Time Scrolls he had been carrying.

"Punohsa! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here for my shift on Monitor duty," she said, her eyes narrowing. "What are _you_ doing here?" Dumplin hesitated for a moment before he glared at her, bringing his fists up into a fighting stance.

"I need these scrolls," he said. "Puddin's in trouble. If you try to throw me out, I _will_ hurt you."

"Puddin's in trouble?" Punohsa said in surprise. "What happened?" Dumplin blinked in surprise before he shook himself and explained.

"Puddin tried to throw a Christmas celebration for us, but Towa refused to be a part of it. Towa and I had a fight, a really bad one, and it got so bad that I told her to leave, so she packed up her stuff and marched out the door and before I knew it, Puddin was chasing after her, and the moment Towa teleported through time, Puddin got dragged with her." Dumplin's voice had become more and more frantic as time went on, building to a higher pitch. He was even starting to hyperventilate. "Now Puddin has been gone for hours and I don't know where or when she went so I gotta see if I can find her in the Time Scrolls and I am really freaking out because Puddin is alone and scared in a place and time she doesn't know about so I need to find her right now!"

Punohsa stood frozen for a moment before she strode over and grabbed Dumplin's shoulders to make him look at her.

"Dumplin, you need to calm down," she told him. He looked at her in surprise before glaring at her.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?!" he demanded. "And how am I supposed to be calm when my daughter is lost in space and time?!"

"Because you won't do her any good if you whip yourself into a panic. You need to relax, breathe, and focus, okay?"

"This isn't a goddamn Tai Chi class, Punohsa!" snapped Dumplin. "This is my daughter we're talking about!" Punohsa just narrowed her eyes at him.

"Remember what happened in Age 547. We need to do this properly so we don't waste time worrying." Dumplin finally seemed to be starting to calm himself before he stopped and looked at her in confusion.

"We?" he asked

"Of course," she said as she let go of him. "I'm not just going to leave my favorite student hanging." She turned and walked toward another shelf of scrolls. "You focus on that shelf where you are. I'll look through the Scrolls over here." She turned over her shoulder to look Dumplin in the eye. "Don't worry. We'll find her." She started looking through the shelf of Scrolls, trying to make some semblance of reason out of Chronoa's insane filing system, and soon heard Dumplin pick up his dropped Scrolls and start looking through them.

For almost an hour, they passed the time in silence, focusing all of their attention on searching through the Time Scrolls for any sign or hint of Puddin in it. Punohsa had combed through the 'Events Having To Do With Dogs' section and the 'Robots Are Cool' section and the 'Dokis Everywhere' section when she came across a scroll in the 'Earth Really Sucks' section that had the faintest whiff of purple coming from it, showing that there was a minor break in the timeline. Feeling a tiny spark of hope rise in her chest, she pulled out the scroll and rolled it open. Her eyes widened.

"Dumplin! Over here!"

Dumplin was at her side in a flash, trying to get a good look at the scroll in her hand. He gasped when she tilted the scroll to show him the image.

The scroll showed a ruined city, with clouds of dust and refuse drifting across the cracked pavement. The both of them saw Puddin, curled up in the fetal position and sitting against the burnt out husk of a building.

"PUDDIN!" cried Dumplin, almost tearing the scroll out of Punohsa's hands. Punohsa had just enough time to put her hand on Dumplin's shoulder before he used the scroll. The both of them were consumed by a bright flash of light and the world fell away.

When the world came back into focus, they were both standing on top of one of the ruined buildings that were still standing in the middle of the expansive hellscape. Dumplin immediately took to the air and started looking frantically in all directions Punohsa took to the air as well and started looking around.

Within moments, they saw Puddin, just as the scroll had shown.

"Puddin!" Dumplin cried. Puddin's whole body jerked in surprise before she looked up at the two of them flying toward her.

"D…Daddy?" she whimpered. Dumplin hit the ground at a dead waddle-run and threw his arms around her.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he whispered into her ear. "It's okay. I'm here now."

"She's gone…" Puddin sobbed as she buried her face into Dumplin's shoulder. "Daddy, she's gone…"

"I know, Puddin," he said, his voice sounding on the edge of tears.

"Everything is going to be okay, Puddin," Punohsa said as she landed and took a knee next to the father and daughter. Puddin looked up at her in surprise.

"Master Punohsa?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping your father look for you," Punohsa said as if it were obvious. "We had a bit of a scare when you went missing. We should probably be heading back now." She nudged Dumplin's shoulder and he gave a small nod before pulling out the scroll.

"Let's get you home, sweetheart," he said softly. He activated the scroll and they teleported back to the Time Nest in a flash of light. Punohsa stood up, but Dumplin and Puddin stayed as they were for a long time before Dumplin sighed and looked up at her.

"Punohsa, I need to ask a favor," he said.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Can you take Puddin home and keep an eye on her? I'll stay here and clean things up. It's my mess, after all."

After a moment of thought, Punohsa nodded.

"As long as you vouch for me to Chronoa," she said as she scooped Puddin into her arms. Puddin didn't seem like she was aware of anything at all, and didn't even acknowledge who was carrying her. "Let's get you home, kid," Punohsa whispered to Puddin. She turned on her heel and walked out of the Time Nest, stepping over the unconscious Evelyn and leaving Dumplin kneeling in the middle of the mess of scattered scrolls.

After a quick flight to Dumplin and Puddin's house, Punohsa pushed through the slightly ajar door and took in the look of the house. The decorations, lights, and Christmas tree were still giving off a look of Christmas cheer, but it now seemed hollow and soulless. A large dinner sat on the dining room table, barely eaten and stone cold. A fire had been burning in the fireplace, but there were not even embers now. The ajar door had let in the chill of the earlier rainstorm, so now Punohsa swore she could see her breath in the air.

"I should probably put you to bed," she said more to herself than Puddin. As she started carrying Puddin toward the bedrooms, Puddin suddenly grabbed Punohsa's shoulder, making her stop in her tracks. "What's up, Puddin?" she asked. Puddin looked sheepish for a moment before focusing her wide eyes on Punohsa's.

"Can I stay here with you?" she begged. "I don't want to be alone." The look of heart-wrenching despair on her face alone was enough to make Punohsa instantly comply.

"Okay, Puddin," she said with a nod. "I won't leave you alone."

She lay Puddin down on the couch and draped a blanket over her, which Puddin immediately pulled around herself and cuddled up in. The next order of business was to get the fire going again to chase away the chill of the rain. Once the fire was burning, she knelt in front of Puddin and rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm gonna clean up what's left of dinner," Punohsa said. "If you need me, I'll be right over there, okay?" Puddin blinked at her for a moment before clutching the blankets closer.

"Toss it," she said weakly.

"What?"

"Throw it away. I don't want to see it again."

With a sigh, Punohsa nodded and went to her task. She stole a few bites as she threw everything away and it was actually quite good, but she understood why Puddin wouldn't have any desire for leftovers. When the dinner was cleaned up, Punohsa checked on Puddin again and found her blankly staring at the floor. It made Punohsa's heart break just to watch.

 _I need to find some way to cheer her up,_ she thought to herself. After a bit of thought, Punohsa smiled as an idea came to her. She walked into the corner of the kitchen and made a call on her scouter. It rang four times before someone finally picked up.

 _"What?!_ " snapped the male voice on the other line. She smiled.

"Hello, Paata," she said. There was a pause on the other side.

" _Master Punohsa? Do you have any idea what time it is?"_ Paata's tone had lost its bite, but there was still a lot of confusion in it.

"I do and I'm sorry about waking you, but this really can't wait."

Something in her tone must have gotten through to him because he sounded much more awake the next time he spoke.

" _What's wrong and what can I do?"_ Paata asked.

"Towa left the city earlier tonight, and it doesn't look like she's coming back. I'm with Puddin, but what she really needs right now is a friend. Could you possibly come over?" There was a long pause before Paata spoke again.

" _I'll be there as soon as I can._ " With that, the connection went dead. Punohsa nodded to herself and was just turning back toward the living room when there was suddenly a knock at the door. She blinked in surprise.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me…" she said to herself as she answered the door. Paata stood on the porch, panting hard. He looked like he'd dressed in a hurry and he carried a duffle back over his shoulder and a large thermos in his hand.

"Sorry… I took… so long," he panted, stepping into the house. "Had to… make the soup right."

Punohsa could do little more than blink at him in silence as he moved to the living room and saw Puddin curled up on the couch.

"Hey, Puddin," he said gently. Puddin turned to look at him and her face brightened a bit.

"Paata? What are you doing here?"

"I came when I heard you needed a friend," he said with a smile. He unscrewed the top of the thermos and poured some of the soup into the cap. "This is some soup I made for you. It's a family recipe. I hope you like it."

He carefully handed the soup to Puddin and she took a delicate sip. Her face brightened even more and the soup was gone in moments, leaving her holding the empty cap toward Paata while looking at him with wide, begging eyes. He chuckled before refilling her cap from the thermos. Puddin took another sip of soup, thankfully consuming it slower now, as Paata lifted the duffle bag into his lap.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I figured you'd need some cheering up and I knew this would be the best way to do it." He opened the duffle bag to show that it was completely filled with DVDs of _Warrior Pegasus Princess_. "So, which season do you want to start on? I've always been partial to season three."

Puddin stared at the DVDs for a moment before giving him an incredulous look.

"Really? Season three? When they were right in the middle of the network writer's strike and had only two weeks to write an entire season? It's got some of the weirdest episodes in the entire show!"

"But it also has some of my _favorite_ episodes in the entire show, so it balances out," Paata said with a smile. Puddin arched an eyebrow before giving him a smile.

"How about we start at season two and make our way there? I wanna see the Pandemonium arc."

"Behold, the lady speaketh!" he said dramatically because he was just that dang supportive. Paata pulled out one of the DVD cases near the bottom and popped it into the player before turning on the TV.

Punohsa, not really seeing anything else to do, sat down on the other couch and made herself comfortable. By the end of the second episode, Punohsa was genuinely enjoying herself as Princess Moonbeam and her loyal knights fought to defend their kingdom.

More importantly, Puddin was looking much better than when Punohsa and Dumplin had found her. Within the first few minutes of turning on _Warrior Pegasus Princess_ , she was already giggling at the onscreen antics and cheering during the fight scenes. The girl quickly polished off Paata's soup and had become much more animated as she interacted with Paata. It was refreshing to see her acting like her old self again.

A few more hours passed and Punohsa started to see the outer edges of dawn creeping over the horizon. She frowned at the time display on her scouter. Sure, the Time Nest had been left in a state of disarray, but Dumplin couldn't be taking _that_ long to clean things up, right? Humming to herself in thought, Punohsa stood up, getting the attention of the two young adults.

"Paata, I need to ask you to stay here with Puddin for a little longer. I'm going to go see what's taking Dumplin so long. Send me a message if either of you two needs anything."

"Okay, Master Punohsa," Paata said with a nod.

"I hope you find Daddy," Puddin said.

Punohsa smiled at the two of them before she let herself out of the house. At the end of the path through the yard, she took to the air and flew toward the Time Nest.

When she arrived, she was actually quite confused to find the Time Nest spotless, but empty save for a dozing Frost Demon who was on Monitor Duty. There was no sign of Dumplin at all. She flew to the top of Recreation Plaza and looked out over the city. The city was only just now beginning to stir, and even that was lessened with the likely high number of hangovers that were going to make up the coming morning. Still, there was no sign of Dumplin's signature neon color scheme. Punohsa stood there and pondered for a few moments. She had gone out on a few missions with Dumplin in the past, but she hadn't really sat down with him in a long time. Not since she decided to become an instructor instead of an active Time Patroller, anyway. Her thoughts turned back to the times that she, Dumplin, and a few other Majin Time Patrollers would get together to drink, talk, and have some fun.

She blinked. She now had a good idea where Dumplin was.

Flying to the Mushroom Forest to the North of Conton City, she found a small establishment tucked away under a particularly wide mushroom. It had a few flickering signs that proudly declared it to be _Lirran's Place_ and had the bar's motto in smaller neons.

 _We live, we die, we drink again_.

Punohsa stepped through the door, ringing the little bell as she did. The place was mostly deserted, with no one there to enjoy the quiet jazz flowing out of the old jukebox. A Namekian bartender was cleaning glasses behind the bar and gave her a polite nod as she walked in.

Punohsa sighed when she saw the object of her search hunched over the bar, three empty bottles of whiskey in front of him and a glass in his hand. She crossed to the bar and sat down next to the Demon God before leveling a scathing glare at him. Dumplin didn't even acknowledge her as he took a drink from his glass.

"I thought I told you to look after my daughter," he growled as he lowered the glass again.

"She's fine. She's spending time with Paata right now. They're watching cartoons." A hint of wistfulness crossed Dumplin's face.

"Paata's a good kid," he said before drinking again. Punohsa nodded.

"He is. He's decided that the best use of his time would be to help raise the spirits of a person he cared about, unlike you." She saw Dumplin's fingers tighten around the glass.

"You won't even let me mourn?" he asked, glaring at the wall behind the bar. Punohsa rolled her eyes before pointing at the three empty bottles.

"I think you've mourned enough for one night, Dumplin. Besides, I thought you gave up drinking when you decided to be a family man."

"And look where that fucking got me!" he snapped, slamming his glass on the countertop. "My wife just left me, for fuck's sake!"

"Yes," she drawled. "Your wife who happened to be a maniacal demon scientist who you've had to stop from destroying the universe once already." Her eyes narrowed. "Cry me a river." Dumplin sat up straight for a few more moments before he slumped forward again.

"…I loved her," he almost whined. Punohsa's expression softened and she patted his shoulder.

"I know you did, Dumplin, but you can't forget the rest of the world right now. Yes, you just lost your wife, but Puddin just lost her mother. She _needs_ you right now. She needs her father. And if you really must mourn, then you should mourn together, because shutting yourself away from her and drinking yourself into a stupor is not going to solve anything for anyone." She took a breath and saw that Dumplin was finally looking at her. "You have a daughter that thinks the world of you. She sees you as her hero. You need to go home and _be_ her hero."

The bar was silent. The jukebox had gone quiet, as if it had recognized the gravity of what she was saying. Even the bartender had stopped polishing the glasses and was trying very hard to look like he wasn't listening.

"C'mon, Dumplin," Punohsa said softly. "You're the Demon God. It's time to stand up and let the world know that this won't knock you down."

Finally, Dumplin sighed and nodded before putting down his glass and getting down from his stool. He tossed a few extra bills on the countertop before both he and Punohsa walked out of the bar.

"I can fly home on my own," he said quietly. "You should go home and get some sleep." Punohsa nodded.

"Do you know what to say to her?" she asked.

"I've got a good idea," he answered with a nod.

"Then good luck," she said, giving him a smile. "We should get together again sometime. It's been way too long since we've talked."

"Yeah… yeah, that sounds good," Dumplin said with a nod. With that, they both took off and flew toward their homes.

* * *

Dumplin quietly opened the front door of his house to see Paata and Puddin together on the couch watching the ending of an episode of _Warrior Pegasus Princess_. At the sound he made, they both spun to face him. Puddin's face immediately brightened as she caught sight of him.

"Daddy!" she cried happily, vaulting over the couch and running up to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around and squeezed her tight, trying to convey without words how much he loved her.

When they stepped away from each other, Dumplin smiled at Paata.

"Thanks for looking after her, Paata. I owe you one."

"No problem, Dumplin," Paata said with a smile. "Happy to do it."

Dumplin nodded and gave Paata a look, trying to give him the message that he wanted to talk to Puddin alone. Paata apparently got the message because he nodded to him and collected the things he had arrived with.

"I should probably be heading home now," he said, stopping to give Puddin a tight hug. "I'll see you tomorrow, Puddin, but don't hesitate for a moment if you need my help with something, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a small smile as she returned the hug.

Paata gave them one last wave goodbye before leaving out the front door. Dumplin and Puddin both gravitated toward the couch and sat next to each other while holding hands.

"I'm sorry, Puddin," Dumplin started. "I should have been here to comfort and take care of you, but I ran off instead. I'm so sorry."

"I… I know," she said, rubbing his shoulder. Her face looked pained, but she was trying to smile at him. "And it's okay. Really."

"No, it's not. Really," Dumplin responded. "You're my daughter. You come first and I should know better than to just assume I'm the only person hurting." He sighed. "This was a really shitty Christmas."

"Yeah, I guess so," Puddin said with a nod. They sat in silence for a very long time.

"Y'know something, Puddin?" Dumplin began. "I've spent the last few hours wondering to myself about what to do now, and I still don't know. For the longest time, just being with you and Towa was my dream, but I'm not quite sure what to do now."

"Well," Puddin said, giving her father a small smile, "It's like one of those Earthling quotes I heard. 'When one door closes, try breaking down another'. We can make some new dreams for ourselves." Her smile widened. "I'll start, okay? Mine is to become a Master-class Time Patroller and to be the strongest fighter ever." She gently elbowed him in the side. "I'm gonna end up being a better Time Patroller than you someday."

"Heh. Keep dreaming, sweetie," he said with a chuckle. Puddin stuck her tongue out at him.

"What about yours?" she asked.

"To be a good father to you," he said before Puddin flicked his forehead. "Ow," he said, rubbing the spot on his head. Puddin was giving him an unamused glare.

"That's a cop-out, Daddy," she said. "What is _your_ dream? What do you want to happen for yourself?"

Dumplin looked at the wall and thought back on his life. He remembered the times before being a part of the Time Patrol and his early days as one of their members. When he had his answer, he smiled. Puddin noticed.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The same dream I had when I first came to this time," he said. "My dream, Puddin, is to be standing there amongst this world as it burns, the smell of ash and death in the air, on a mountain of broken bodies." His smile turned evil, with shadows seeming to instinctively crawl down to shroud his face. "And the true payoff is the look on the survivors' faces when they finally realize that their hero, their _savior_ , has been working against them the entire time."

And like that, he was back to normal. Puddin blinked at her father for a few moments.

"That's… dark," she said before a smile spread across her face. "But it also sounds amazing. I like it."

Dumplin smiled back and held her close. The coming days would be hard for them, and it was unknown what the future would bring, but Dumplin was quite sure of one thing…

Whatever happened, they would face it together.


	10. Vile Nemesis! Notice me, Villain!

**AN: Hello and welcome to The Adventures of Puddin! I'm so sorry for my absence. This took a long time to get right and I have had writer's block with all of my other stories too. However, I have to inform you guys that I will be taking part in NaNoWriMo this year, so no chapters whatsoever in November. As an apology, I am making sure every one of my stories gets an update this month. Thank you so much for following my fever dream of a fanfic and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

 **As always, eternal thanks to my lovely beta, annbe11 (who is writing a Tiger's Curse fanfic called Tiger's Circus so if there are any Tiger's Curse fans out there be sure to check it out cause it's really good. Yes! Most subtle of plugs!)**

 **Chapter 10 – Vile Nemesis! Notice me, Villain!**

 **Four weeks after Christmas** **…**

The morning had come to Conton City, as well as a new school day at the Time Patroller Academy. Students of all shapes, sizes, and colors flocked through the gates of the Academy, prepared to learn even more about what it meant to be a Time Patroller and defend the very timeline itself.

And then there were some who were dragging their feet, knowing the lectures would leave them bored out of their skulls.

Dailli was most assuredly in the latter group.

The male Earthling yawned as he walked the last few streets to the Academy, scratching the back of his neck as he went. He'd been up late playing Duty Calls with his buddies and had barely gathered the energy to leave his apartment. He tugged at the collar of his school uniform and readjusted his bandanna, reassuring himself that he could at least catch a few winks during class.

When he turned the last corner before the Academy, however, he froze.

"No fucking way…" he said to himself.

Standing right outside the Academy front gate, dressed in a school uniform, was that Demon Girl. His vile nemesis. _Puddin._

It had been a long time since she humiliated him at that baseball game. Since then, Dailli had thought about her often and about the great vengeance he would visit upon her. Finally, he would have his chance.

Dailli ducked back behind the corner and peeked out, watching her closely. The girl in question was standing in front of the gate, but she made no move to enter. If anything, she looked like she was stuck in place. She even looked like she was trembling a little.

Dailli smiled.

 _This is perfect! She_ _'s clearly distracted. If I defeat her right now, I can prove that I am truly the superior fighter at this school. Everyone will fear my power._

Dailli smiled at the thought.

 _She_ _'ll be completely demoralized and humiliated, she might even give up on being a Time Patroller entirely! Hehehe- the hell is HE doing here?!_

While Dailli had been plotting to himself, Paata had arrived at the school gates and came up behind Dailli's nemesis. Paata had a small smile on his face as he reached Puddin's side.

"Hey Puddin," he said. The girl didn't move. With a look of confusion, he slowly reached out to her. "Puddin?"

The moment Paata put his hand on Puddin's shoulder, she let out an ear-splitting yowl and leapt nearly twenty feet in the air. As she came crashing down to the ground, she was panting, almost hyperventilating, as she turned to stare at Paata. He stood there with his hands on his hips, giving her a flat look.

"A little high-strung, are we?" he asked. Puddin sheepishly looked at the ground and shuffled her feet. She looked kind of… cute when she did that.

Dailli grit his teeth, suppressing any thoughts relating to considering Puddin 'cute'.

"Sorry Paata," she said. "I'm just a little nervous. Y'know, first day of school and all."

Paata gave an understanding nod.

"This is big for you, I know, but It won't really start until you actually walk _into_ school."

"Yeah," Puddin said, blushing a little. "Okay… okay, I think I'm ready."

Together, they crossed the threshold of the school gate. Dailli darted forward, taking cover behind the gate and watching them as they made their way down the path to the front door.

"This isn't so bad," Puddin said, looking a little less nervous. "Maybe this is going to go just fi-"

At that moment, a hoverbike crashed straight down into the grass in front of the school and deposited a green-haired Earthling male dressed in an unkempt school uniform out onto the paved path. He rolled across the ground before landing in a sit and shaking his head to dislodge a small cloud of smoke and dust that had clung to him.

 _Oh god dammit,_ thought Dailli. _Why did it have to be Cray?_

As soon as the new arrival caught sight of Paata, he practically teleported to the Saiyan and grabbed him by his jacket.

"Tell me you saw it!" he said, looking frantic.

"Saw what, Cray?" asked Paata.

"There were two naked ladies on the Space Internet!"

Dailli had to stop himself from slamming his head against the school gate. This idiot was so goddamn stupid.

"Um… that's called porn," said Puddin. "It's been there since the dawn of time."

"No!" shouted Cray. "These two were famous!"

"For what?" asked Paata, despite looking like he wasn't really looking forward to an answer.

"For being naked!"

 _So_ goddamn stupid. This time, Dailli did slam his head against the gate.

For a moment, Dailli was distracted. That was the moment when Puddin made her move.

"Look!" she shouted, pointing off to the side of the school. "An obvious distraction!"

"Where?!" said Cray, looking in the direction she had pointed.

Dailli also looked in that direction, but there was nothing there out of the ordinary. A student named Turrip was indulging his hobby of flipping off the giant dragon in the sky, but that was nothing new.

When Dailli looked back, Puddin and Paata were gone.

He blinked. He blinked again.

"Dammit!" he roared, slamming his fist into the grass. She'd pulled the wool over his eyes and slipped right out of his hands.

Truly, she would prove herself to be a cunning foe.

* * *

Luckily for Dailli, he only had to wait another two days before he crossed paths with Puddin again. It was the start of Timeline Studies, which was right before lunch and his favorite class to nap in. He was quite surprised to walk inside the classroom and see Puddin sitting eagerly in the front row. He gritted his teeth and was about to scream out a challenge at her when the teacher strode in and ordered them all to take their seats.

"Now, class," the teacher, an old and wrinkled Namekian, said, "we will be talking about the various alternate timelines and time warps you will have to contend with when you become full Time Patrollers. The challenge, however, is knowing what does and does not need to be fixed."

Dailli was only half-listening to the teacher drone on and on. He was focused on Puddin, trying as hard as he could to defeat her through sheer thought. Why was she just ignoring him like this?

"Mister Dailli," said the teacher, jolting Dailli back to the present, "could you please explain to us the difference between a Canon Timeline and a Non-Canon Timeline?"

"Um… uh…" he stammered. "Uh, one of them has more… cans?"

Anger burned in his gut as students began to snicker around him. The teacher sighed.

"That was… actually, no, Mister Dailli, that was not close. Not close whatsoever. I suggest you read the homework twice tonight to make sure it gets through." He turned to the rest of the class. "Does anyone else know the answer?"

Instantly, Puddin's hand was in the air.

"Yes, Miss Puddin?"

"A Canon Timeline is what we associate as the normal flow of the universe as the Z-Fighters battle against threats to Earth," she said with a smile. "A Non-Canon Timeline, however, is made up of changes in the timeline that have naturally reached a state of balance with the Canon Timeline. These are including, but not limited to, the invasion of Earth by Lord Slug, Goku's battle against Cooler, and that entire Broly debacle. It's not part of the Canon Timeline, but it won't throw the universe out of whack if it randomly pops up."

"Excellent answer, young lady! Most excellent!" He turned to the rest of the class. "Make sure you make note of that. Non-Canon Timelines can be seen as a benign time warp that doesn't put the universe at risk."

By now, Dailli was shaking in his seat, his teeth grinding together in rage. Suddenly, he slammed his palm down on the desk and shot to his feet.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE FUCKING SMART?!" he bellowed. As the class jumped at his outburst, Puddin only gave the barest of glances before turning back to the front of the class. "LOOK AT ME WHEN I-!"

"Mister Dailli! That is enough!" shouted the teacher. "Leave my classroom!"

Dailli grimaced but did as he was ordered. He glared at Puddin as he walked past, but his nemesis didn't even look up as exited the room. When he was out in the hall, he smiled to himself.

"Ha! She's so intimidated, she can't even look me in the eye! My victory is assured!"

"Son, you need to stop talking to yourself," said the janitor at the end of the hall as he mopped the floors. Dailli ignored him and leaned against the wall.

As time passed, Dailli decided that now would be the perfect time to prove his superiority in combat. He would challenge Puddin as soon as she emerged from the classroom. With his plan in mind, he stood against the wall and waited. He didn't move a muscle for a whole hour.

When the bell finally rang and the students began filing out into the hall, he stayed in place. All he had to do was wait. Any moment now…

Puddin was the last person to leave the room, no doubt sucking up to the professor, and she started walking down the hall. Her eyes skated right over him as she went on her way. He stalked after her, managing to make it a few steps and opening his mouth to call out his challenge when…

"Puddin, hold on!"

An instant later, something slammed into Dailli and sent him skidding across the floor and into a wall.

"Whoops! Sorry kid."

Dailli looked up to see Master Punohsa standing where he had been. The Majinn instructor was dressed in her normal ninja garb with a bag hanging from her shoulder. She turned from him and faced Puddin.

"How are you today, Puddin?" she asked.

"Doing good, Master," Puddin said with a smile. "I think I'm really getting the hang of things and I'm doing well in my classes."

"Great to hear, Puddin," Punohsa said with a smile. She reached into her bag and pulled out a cloth-wrapped bento box. "I made you a lunch, Puddin. I want to make sure my favorite student gets nice and strong so she can be an awesome Time Patroller."

"But I made my own lunch," protested Puddin.

"I've seen your lunches, kiddo," Punohsa said with a smile. "They're about three-quarters candy. You need _real_ food." Puddin, looking a little crestfallen, nodded and took the bento box.

"Thank you, Master Punohsa," she said, managing a small smile.

"Hey, wanna come eat lunch with me?" Punohsa asked with a grin. "I'm about to go eat with my friend Taino. You can ask about her Time Patroller missions."

"Taino?" asked Puddin with stars in her eyes. "As in Commander-Taino- of-the Taino-Force Taino?"

"You bet."

"Nyah! I'd love to!" cheered Puddin. The Majiins departed, with Puddin bouncing down the hallway before turning around the corner.

Dailli lay where he had fallen and growled to himself.

"One day soon, Puddin," he swore. "One day soon…"

* * *

Dailli crouched down behind a brick wall encircling a cafe. He had woken up early today to ambush Puddin on her way to school. He had also chosen this exact spot because it was on her route to school. This time he wouldn't allow pesky students or pesky school officials to interrupt his battle with his rival.

This time she would acknowledge how much stronger he was than her.

Another waiter came over in a pathetic attempt to take his order, but Dailli growled and made shooing motions at the waiter until he left. Dailli's eyes never left the street.

He would be ready this time.

At last, at exactly thirty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds after seven o'clock, he saw Puddin come around the corner at the end of the road. She was now only three blocks away. As soon as she came close, he would lunge from his hiding place and take her down before she knew what hit her. He smiled as his foot began to tap in excitement.

 _There is no way this could possibly fail,_ he thought to himself as he readjusted his orange bandanna. _Puddin is mine_.

Just then, the sound of a whirring engine came from somewhere nearby. He blinked in surprise before looking around in confusion. There were no cars on the road. Where was the noise coming from?

Dailli finally thought to look up. Unfortunately, he was too late.

 _CRASH!_

A large green time machine suddenly landed on top of him, making the surrounding bricks and concrete crack and buckle. It came to rest before the glass dome opened and a strange figure jumped out.

He was a member of the Freeza race, but there was something odd about him. Something almost… _gooey_ about his body. His horns were small black spikes atop his armored white cranium. He wore black pointed shoes, billowy white pants, a red spandex shirt with a white armored breastplate, and bright pink gloves with a neon green wristwatch. There was also a sword sheathed across his back. He looked around the street, his face looking panicked.

"What year is it?!" he demanded of the various cafe patrons.

They were all so surprised by his sudden appearance that they all just stared at him. He grabbed at his horns in such a way that would have been hair-pulling if he had any hair to speak of. When he looked toward the market plaza, however, he froze as he stared at the giant statue of Demon God Dumplin.

"…Only one statue?" he breathed. His face suddenly became panicked again. "Crap! Too far!"

With that, he jumped up into his time machine and revved up the time engine. In moments, the device had vanished. It left behind some smashed bricks, a shallow crater, and a severely bruised Dailli.

"…Ow," he whimpered.

That moment, Puddin walked past the cafe. She smiled and hummed to herself as she continued her way to school, blissfully unaware of what had just happened.

Dailli moaned as he slowly dragged himself out of his crater. First he had to deal with interfering students, then it was interfering teachers, and now it seemed that the universe itself was conspiring against him.

"No… matter…" he said to himself as he managed to start crawling down the sidewalk as people stared and made way for him. "I'll have my battle. I'll have my vengeance. It's just a matter of time."

* * *

It was a Saturday afternoon as Dailli crept through the bushes of the suburban area of Conton City. Keeping an eye out for any security cameras, he made a dash forward out of cover before flattening himself against the wall of a house. He smiled to himself as he began to crawl along the side toward a nearby window. Finally, this was a plan that would work. It _had_ to work.

The house in question was the home of Dumplin and Puddin. After his disastrous attempt at ambushing her on her way to school, he thought that it made much more sense to challenge her after school hours. He could knock on her door, or maybe kick it down if he was feeling dramatic, and challenge her to a battle. It would be over in moments, and he could hold his head high knowing that he was the most powerful fighter in the City.

He reached the window and carefully peeked inside. He had a view of the kitchen and a tiny bit of the living room beyond that, but there were no signs of life. A second glance, however, showed there were moving shadows on the wall of the living room. There was definitely someone in there, but he needed a better view. He lowered himself back down and continued creeping along the side of the house.

He could feel his excitement growing as he came closer to the window. This was the moment. He could feel it.

When he reached the window, however, he hesitated. He could hear an odd sound from inside. It sounded like… panting? As well as… creaking? He inched forward and peeked inside.

On the couch in the living room, there was a large blob of… something. The formless mass was shifting around as well as expanding and contracting at a rapid pace, almost as if it were breathing. It looked vaguely like someone had mixed together scoops of slightly melted Earl Grey and strawberry ice cream. He strained his ears, trying to hear any more sounds from inside.

"Oh… yeah… like that… right there… ah!"

Dailli felt his face start to heat up. He had spent enough private time on the Space Internet to know what those sounds were. But… how? What? _How_?

Suddenly, the lock on the front door clicked, causing the blob to freeze and the sounds of pleasure to stop. The door creaked open, allowing Demon God Dumplin to walk inside and flick on the light. He looked at the panting blob and froze.

"Puddin?" he asked.

With a slurping sound that almost turned Dailli's stomach, the blob separated into Puddin and Cupcake. Both were staring at Dumplin and neither had a stitch of clothing on them. Puddin blushed dark gray and grabbed a nearby blanket to cover up. Cupcake, meanwhile, seemed to feel no such inclination and just smiled.

"Hey Dumplin," she said. "What's up?"

"Uh…" the Demon God said.

"Daddy," squeaked Puddin, suddenly looking anywhere but him. "We were… um… we were just… uh-"

"Stop," Dumplin said, closing his eyes and holding his hand up to stop her. Puddin fell silent. "Just answer a few questions for me. Question one, are you both doing this because you want to?" After a moment, they both nodded. "Good. Question two, is anyone getting hurt by you two doing this?" They both shook their heads. "Good, that's all I needed to know. I don't need to know anything else. I don't _want_ to know anything else. If you'll excuse me, I am going to find a barrel of water to shove my head into and scream for a while. Good day, ladies." With that, he closed and locked the door.

There were a few long moments of silence.

Suddenly, a pair of yellow arms took hold of the back of the couch. A yellow Majiin, equally as naked as the other two, crossed her arms on top of the couch and rested her chin on them.

"Well," said Captain Taino, "that was awkward."

Puddin let out a loud groan as she covered her face and curled into the fetal position.

"Oh my god, I want to die!" she wailed. "He's never going to be able to look me in the eye again."

"Puddin, this is your dad we're talking about," said Cupcake, who honestly looked like she was enjoying this a little too much. "He's the Demon God. If anyone's not likely to judge you, it's him."

"My life in this city is over," Puddin moaned. "I'm gonna need to move to an Apocalypse Earth just to get away from everyone." Cupcake and Taino shared a look.

"I think we need to distract Puddin from her problems, Taino," Cupcake said.

"I reckon we do, Cupcake."

Together, the two Majiin girls managed to roll Puddin into an upright position, where Taino grabbed her hands and held them firmly against the couch. Before Puddin could give a word of protest, Cupcake started tickling her, filling the room with high-pitched laughter. Eventually, the tickling stopped and the interactions became much more… _sensual_.

Dailli didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. His eternal rival was in there, and he was out here. He hated watching this, but he found himself unable to move from his hiding place. He simply stayed frozen where he was, watching what happened inside.

"Ahem," said a voice behind him. Dailli's hair stood on end before he cautiously turned. Dumplin stood behind him, glaring angrily while drumming his fingers on his crossed arms. "What in the fifteen hells do you think you're doing?" He sounded calm. Scary calm.

"I…" said Dailli. "I thought there were only nine hells."

"I made six extras," said Dumplin, grabbing a fistful of Dailli's shirt. "Would you like a tour?"

"Um… I'd prefer not," Dailli whimpered.

Dumplin's eyes narrowed as a circular black portal opened in the air right behind him.

"Too bad," said Dumplin before he turned and heaved Dailli into the portal.

Darkness.

Death.

Pain.

Despair.

Mimes.

These were the only things surrounding Dailli. His agony was unending, his consciousness infinite. He didn't know where his body ended and his mind began. Pain was life. Life was pain. He begged mercy from the uncaring void. He confessed his sins to the silent gods. Nothing changed. There was only torment, only darkness. His world burned. His world froze. His world became nothing. He became nothing. He was surrounded by-

Grass?

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, there was light behind his eyelids. The first attempt to open his eyes blinded him, but his eyes soon adjusted, allowing him to recognize his surroundings. He was in the bamboo forest of Conton City, on the other side of the city from Dumplin's house. He allowed his hands to skate over the grass, marveling at their softness and how they didn't burn his flesh from his fingers. For the first time, he truly felt at peace.

"Did we learn a lesson?" a voice asked. Dailli looked up to see Dumplin staring down at him.

"It… it was awful," Dailli rasped. His mouth was dry from endless screaming. "It never ended. My agony was the equivalent of a thousand times a thousand deaths. An eternity of torment has-"

"You were only in there for eight seconds," interrupted Dumplin.

"…What?"

"Eight. Seconds," Dumplin said slowly. "And you got off lucky because I'm not in the mood to do any lasting damage to you. Be warned, though. If I find you peeping on my daughter again, I'll leave you in there for an hour. Clear?

Dailli stared blearily at him before giving a small nod.

"Clear."

"Good," said Dumplin. Like that, he was gone, leaving Dailli alone in the forest.

"…I want my mommy," he whimpered.

* * *

The setting sun seemed to set the sky aflame as it dipped below the horizon. The roof of the school building was turned a bright orange as Dailli stood in the center. His back was ramrod straight. His eyes were closed. His breathing was even. His arms were crossed. While the previous experiences had been traumatic and painful, they had only made him stronger. They had been the crucible that reforged him into an unstoppable force.

He would not be denied his destiny. Today was the day. This time, his challenge would be assured. This time, nothing would go wrong.

"Any moment now…" he murmured to himself.

The roof access door creaked open, drawing his attention. Puddin walked out onto the roof before giving Dailli a strange look. A sheet of paper with pronounced fold lines was grasped in her hand. Puddin tilted her head quizzically at him before lifting the note and reading.

"To my eternal rival, the time has come for our fated battle to finally commence. No more shall the universe drive us apart and no more shall we ignore this fire of battle between us. Meet me on the roof of the school at seven o'clock and we shall end this dance for good. Sincerely, your nemesis." She glanced up at Dailli for a moment before looking back down at the paper. "P.S. - You smell nice." She gestured with the message. "Yours, I presume?"

"Indeed," Dailli said, uncrossing his arms. "At long last, my great and worthy opponent, we shall have our climactic showdown. One will show themselves as the superior warrior, and the other shall show themselves to be nothing more than a pretender." He shifted his feet, dropping into a martial arts stance. "Now, we face each other, to put this glorious rivalry to a close, once and for all! What say you, vile nemesis?! What say you now?!"

Puddin blinked for a long moment before cocking her head quizzically to the side.

"Who are you, again?"

Dailli felt something break inside of him. His arms fell to his sides and he dropped to his knees. He felt a lump travel up his throat. All attempts to hold it in were useless and he burst into gushing tears.

"You… *sniff* you don't even… know me?" he asked between sobs. Puddin, looking more than a little uncomfortable with this situation, shook her head, sending Dailli into another bout of sobs. "But… but I was so sure… I thought that… that fighting you would…would…"

"Hey, now," Puddin said gently, taking a knee next to the crying man. "It's okay," she soothed, rubbing his shoulder. "It's okay." Dailli let out a few hiccuping sobs before he looked up at her, tears still streaming down his face. "You're okay," she said with a smile.

"No… I'm not…" he whimpered.

"Of course you are," she said. "You're training at the greatest combat school in the entire universe, preparing for the most important job in the cosmos. We're crazy strong already, and we're only going to get stronger from here. It makes no sense to have a 'climactic showdown' before we even reach our peaks, right?"

"I… I guess so," he sniffled.

"See?" she said, beaming. "You _are_ okay. And now you need to promise to get even better at being a Time Patroller. What do you say?"

Dailli took a few deep breaths before wiping his eyes of any remaining tears.

"I say…" he swallowed. "I say that I will work hard to become as strong as I can. I say that I will become a powerful and decorated Time Patroller by the time we face each other."

Puddin smiled, and for a moment it seemed as if the entire world became brighter. Dailli's heart fluttered.

"And I promise to smash you into the ground when that time finally comes," Puddin said. She gave him another pat on the shoulder before standing up. "I need to head home, actually. Dad's making a macaroni casserole seasoned with the tears of young children. I _definitely_ can't miss that." She lifted off from the surface of the roof and waved to him. "See you later at school," she said with another smile before flying away.

Dailli knelt on the roof for a few long moments. Slowly, he lifted a hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat. It was slower now, but he knew what he had felt.

"My heart flutters when I am close to her," he said quietly to himself. "When she is close, the world seems… brighter. More happy." He lifted his eyes and stared at the setting sun. "Is this… can this be….rivalry?"

For a moment, there was only the sound of the wind.

" **BAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!** "

The evening calm was shattered by deep, roaring laughter. Confused, Dailli looked in all directions, unable to find the source. Then he thought to look up.

The Sky Dragon to the north was laughing at him.

" **Ha ha ha** **… Yeah… yeah, kid** ," it said through it's laughter. It raised a giant claw to wipe at his eyes. " **That** **'s** _ **exactly**_ **what rivalry is like. Hoo boy, are you** _ **right**_ **! Ha ha ha** **… ahhh.** " It turned it's glowing gaze toward him and gave a smile with teeth the size of skyscrapers." **Thanks, pipsqueak, I needed that.** "

"Go ahead and laugh!" Dailli shouted up at the dragon, "You would never truly understand." He put a hand to his heart and gave a small smile. "For the sake of my rivalry with Puddin, I will train twice as hard and twice as long from now on." He laughed a thrust his fist into the air. "I will become an eternal rival truly worthy of her! That is my vow as a Time Patroller! My vow as a warrior!"

There was a pause for a few moments before the Sky Dragon seemed to smirk and nod at him.

" **Well, then,** " it said, " **I guess you better get to work kid.** "

With his spirits soaring high, Dailli nodded to the Dragon before he made his way home and crawled into bed.

"You better get yourself ready, Puddin," he said with a smile as his eyes closed. "I will make sure that our battle will be legendary."


End file.
